Babe in the Woods
by Isabeau1
Summary: When food starts disappearing from the harvest caravans, Ronin is sent to investigate. He finds a little boy lost in the woods, and it changes his life forever. (This is an AU)
1. Ch 1: Little Boy Lost

**Chapter 1: Little Boy Lost**

Ronin was a patient man, particularly if being patient got him away from the tedium of the harvest caravans. Not that he would ever admit that; he was the general after all.

He still thought he was the wrong person for this mission, but the queen had insisted. Tara was an exceptional queen, but there were times she made no sense to him at all. She could have at least sent someone who had children. There were plenty of highly qualified Leafmen who had vastly more experience with children than Ronin did. Given that he had almost no experience at all, it would have been very easy to find someone better suited for this task.

Despite what his captains thought, Ronin did not always lose arguments with the queen; he just didn't brag about it when he won. That was never why he argued with her. He really hadn't tried that hard this time though. There was a little boy wandering around the woods, apparently alone, taking food from the harvest caravans, and they were less than a month out from the first snow. They needed to find him and make sure he was safe before winter set in.

The boy had proven to be both fast and clever, and no one had managed to catch him yet. A few of the Leafmen in the caravan escorts had tried, but he had managed to elude them, although they weren't sure how. He was too small to be faster than they were, so he must have managed to hide. The Leafmen who had given chase had only been trying to help him, but it had apparently frightened the boy, because they hadn't seen him since.

Ronin had decided he was not going to chase him. The child was obviously motivated by food, so when Ronin found small bare footprints in the mud of a river bank, he set out a pile of seeds and sweets, then sat nearby to wait.

It was two days of waiting, and chasing off the occasional ant, before the child finally appeared. He was small, far too skinny and far too young to be alone. Ronin's Leafmen had been right; the boy needed to be brought in and cared for.

Ronin didn't want to chase him though. That had frightened him off before and not been terribly effective, but he couldn't let him get away either. As he watched, the boy sniffed at the honey brittle, then carefully licked it. A happy grin spread across his face, and he crunched down on the brittle. Ronin pulled a piece of seed cake out of his pack.

"I've got more sweets," Ronin called softly, holding out the seed cake.

The boy jumped and clutched the honey brittle to his chest, eyes wide.

"That's all yours," Ronin reassured him, the seed cake still extended out to him, "there's more too."

The child eyed him cautiously. His pants were tattered and his knees and elbows were skinned. He had a large leaf wrapped around his shoulders like a cloak. He shifted nervously from one bare foot to the other, looking longingly at the seed cake.

"Can you understand me?" Ronin asked gently.

The child cocked his head to the side, listening, but he didn't show any sign of understanding. He was very interested in the seed cake though. He inched nearer, pieces of honey brittle still clutched in one hand.

"My name is Ronin," the general kept talking, hoping to coax him closer, "what's your name?"

With a quick hop the boy lunged forward and snatched the seed cake out of Ronin's hand, then darted back.

"All yours," Ronin said, not moving from his seat.

The boy sniffed at the seed cake, his eyes fixed on Ronin, then took a cautious bite, which was quickly followed by a second and third.

"Not bad, huh?" Ronin laughed softly, reaching in his pack for another one, "I have lots more."

The child stuffed the rest of the seed cake in his mouth, chewing messily, then looked up at him. Ronin held the cake out, and this time the boy was a little less skittish, although he still retreated back several paces before eating it.

"If you come with me, there will be plenty of food," Ronin tried, still hopeful that the child might understand something; he looked old enough to be talking.

The boy pointed to the pack next to Ronin's feet.

"Right, food," Ronin nodded.

The boy held out his hand, making a grabbing motion in the direction of the pack.

"See, if I give this to you, you're just going to run," Ronin shook his head, "and that doesn't really help either of us."

The boy pointed more insistently at the pack.

"Here," Ronin pulled out an acorn dumpling, tossing it to the boy, who caught it, gave it a sniff, then shoved it in his mouth.

After he finished the dumpling, he sat down to finish the honey brittle, which had been broken into tiny pieces from clutching it too tightly. While he was licking his sticky fingers, Ronin tried to come up with a way to get the child to come with him that wouldn't involve grabbing him or scaring him.

Having gotten as much of the sticky sweet off his fingers as he could, the boy looked at Ronin expectantly. When Ronin didn't produce more food, he chirped.

Ronin blinked. The boy sounded exactly like a hungry chickadee, and the tiny down feathers tangled in his matted hair looked like they could have belonged to one. Maybe…

Ronin whistled for his mount. They had made the change weeks ago from hummers to titmice, and while a titmouse wasn't a chickadee, they were almost the same size and had similar coloring, so maybe the boy would be interested.

The boy jumped, then looked up at the sound of wings. His face lit up at the sight of the bird landing next to Ronin, and he whistled like a titmouse. Ronin's mount looked suitably confused.

"Do you like birds?" Ronin stood slowly and reached up to grab the reigns, "do you want to come see him?"

The boy whistled again, and the titmouse whistled back, but stayed patiently with Ronin. The child crept closer, crouching down to examine the girth of the saddle and the buckle. He tugged on the buckle, then worked it loose, puzzling through how to unbuckle it. Ronin almost stopped him, but decided it was better to let him explore.

He did catch the saddle before the boy could pull it down on top of himself. The child jumped and looked up at him as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"If we put that back on, you could come for a ride with me," Ronin looked down at him over the back of the bird.

The boy chirped at him again and let go of the girth. He grabbed one of the reigns and tugged, but Ronin managed to grab it before he could jerk on his bird's head.

"Don't do that," Ronin said firmly, "you'll hurt the bird."

The boy let go of the reign and ducked under the titmouse's head, digging his fingers into its chest feathers and scratching. The bird let out a happy warble, and the boy grinned and scratched harder. Ronin left him to it and walked around his mount to re-buckle his saddle.

When he looked up from the girth, the boy was gone. He had a moment of panic before he realized the child was sitting with his pack, digging through the contents excitedly. He shoved another acorn dumpling in his mouth, then hopped to his feet and grabbed the strap.

Ronin crept around his mount and crouched low, catching the other strap just as the boy tried to leave with the pack. The child jumped and looked at him wide-eyed.

"It's okay," Ronin murmured softly, "everything's okay."

The boy tugged on the strap nervously with both hands.

"You need to come with me," Ronin pulled the bag slowly towards himself, "there's lots of food, and a warm place to sleep, and people to care for you."

The boy took a hesitant step forward, then dropped the strap abruptly and tried to run. Ronin grabbed his wrist before he could go anywhere. He had been hoping he would be able to coax the boy in without having to actually restrain him, but they couldn't risk the child getting away, not this close to winter.

The boy tried to jerk his arm loose, baring his teeth and growling at Ronin like an angry fox. When Ronin didn't release him, he shoved forward and tried to bite his arm guard.

"Easy, easy," Ronin cooed, staying still while the boy struggled, "you're going to chip a tooth that way."

The child yelled and tried to bite higher up on his arm, but he didn't have any better luck with the padded under armor. With a scream he lunged for Ronin's face, but the general spun him, pinning him in his lap and trapping his arms across his chest.

"You're okay," Ronin tried to sooth him as the boy screeched and struggled, "I'm not going to hurt you. Everything's going to be alright."

The boy screamed and kicked and bit, but Ronin held him steady. He didn't know what else to do. He couldn't let him go, and he couldn't make him understand that he wanted to help him. He held the boy pinned until his screams dissolved into sobs, and he stopped struggling.

"See, it's alright," Ronin cautiously released him with one hand.

When the boy didn't try to bolt, Ronin grabbed the strap of his pack and pulled it towards them, setting it in the boy's lap. The child tipped his head back to look up at him, his breath coming in hiccupping gasps.

"Go on," Ronin pulled open the pack, "it's all yours, just like I said."

The child tentatively dug into the pack, coming up with another seed cake and a small bag of honey brittle. He ate the seed cake in two large bites, then tried to figure out how to open the bag of honey brittle. Ronin let him puzzle through the drawstrings, helping him when they got tangled.

The food seemed to placate the sniffling boy, and he leaned back into Ronin as he munched.

"Feeling better?" Ronin asked softly.

The boy looked up at him again, then pulled an acorn dumpling out of the pack and offered it to him with sticky fingers.

"Thank you," Ronin laughed and took it, "now, what do you say to that ride chickadee?"

* * *

><p>The flight back to Moonhaven was uneventful. Ronin sat the boy in front of him and let him hold onto the sack. This was apparently very serious work, because while he didn't show any sign of being afraid to fly, he clutched the bag to himself as if it were filled with gold instead of sweets. The sweets were probably better than gold to him. The child was all bony elbows and knobby knees. He needed to gain some weight.<p>

There weren't any problems until they reached the rookery. They had missed the change over between the afternoon patrols and the evening ones, but there were still a number of Leafmen there bedding down their units' birds for the night.

The boy looked at all the people, none of whom had noticed him, looked at Ronin holding out his hands to help him down, clutched the sack to himself, and bolted off the other side of the bird.

"Hey!" Ronin ducked under his mount's head, trying to grab him, but he had already disappeared.

"Watch the exits!" Ronin yelled.

Immediately the guards were on alert, and heads were popping out of nests and leaning over the railings of the upper levels.

"What are we watching for?" one of the guards asked.

"A little boy," Ronin eyed the large rookery, trying to figure out which direction the child would have had to have taken to disappear so quickly. "Don't let him out, but try not to scare him."

Leafmen shifted to cover exits and openings, and the ones taking care of their birds abandoned their tasks to hunt through the levels, checking all the small places a child was likely to hide.

"What's his name?" a Leafwoman called from the second level.

"I don't know," Ronin called back, sizing up the spiral staircase that connected all the floors.

The boy could have reached it, but it was creaky, and they would have heard him climb it. It seemed unlikely that he would have made it up that way unnoticed.

"You're carrying around a kid, and you don't know who he is?" the Leafwoman gave him a skeptical look.

"Yes," Ronin decided the boy was most likely to still be on the ground floor, and he headed towards the nearest nest.

Ronin was too preoccupied with searching to catch the bemused look some of the Leafmen gave him. They needed to find the child quickly and make sure he didn't escape. Ronin wasn't sure he would be able to catch him a second time.

It was several minutes later that a titmouse whistle came from up above, and Ronin ducked out of the nest he had been searching. Scouts used bird calls to talk to each other and their units. This one meant something had been spotted. A Leafman on the top level leaned over the railing and pointed towards one of the nests on the end. Ronin signaled that he understood and ran up the stairs.

There were two titmice already roosted in the nest, and a little bare foot just visible behind them. Ronin waved away the Leafmen who were starting to gather, curious about the mysterious child their general had brought home. They dispersed reluctantly, going back to their duties.

Ronin waited until he couldn't hear their footsteps behind him, then crouched down, leaning on the edge of the nest.

"Hey chickadee," he called softly, "you alright in there?"

The boy stayed completely still, probably hoping that if he didn't move, he wouldn't be spotted. The titmice puffed out their feathers, roosting more comfortably, obviously unbothered by their new nest mate.

"I know there are lots of people here and it's scary," Ronin pitched his voice low, hoping to sooth the frightened child, "but no one is going to hurt you."

The foot drew back, but the child made no move to come out from behind the birds.

"We've got food, and a warm, safe place to sleep," Ronin cautiously stepped into the nest, pushing aside the head of the nearest bird, who was hoping for a treat, "and we'll find your home."

He could see the child pressed against the far side of the nest, curled around the pack. He gave a hiccupping gasp when he realized Ronin could see him and shrank back farther. Ronin crept between the birds, stopping just shy of being close enough to grab the boy, then sitting down.

The boy clutched the pack tighter, his breath coming in uneven sobs.

"That's yours," Ronin reassured him, "I'm not going to take it from you."

The child rubbed at his eyes with the back of his arm, smearing the dirt on his face and not accomplishing much else.

"I haven't hurt you yet, have I?" Ronin let his hands rest on his knees, palms up, "I let you eat all my seed cake."

The boy stared at him wide eyed for a moment, then fumbled to open the pack. He rummaged around inside it and pulled out an acorn dumpling, offering it tentatively to Ronin.

"Thank you," Ronin held his hand out, letting the child give it to him rather than taking it.

The boy watched him eat it, then pointed towards the entryway of the rookery.

"No," Ronin shook his head, "I can't let you go. It's not safe."

The boy waited a moment, and when Ronin didn't move, he thrust another dumpling at him insistently.

"No," Ronin curled the boy's fingers back around it, closing both hands gently around the child's, "you can't go."

The boy whimpered, making a whining noise like a distraught fox and causing the birds to stir restlessly. Ronin just missed getting hit in the face by a wing as the birds resettled.

"Everything's okay," Ronin stayed still, continuing to hold the child's hand in his, "I won't let anyone hurt you."

Something crashed on the lower floor; it sounded like someone had dropped a feed bin. The boy yelped and dove for Ronin, catching the general off guard and nearly knocking him on his back. He wasn't trying to attack though. Instead he clung to him, clutching at his jinbaoriand pressing into him as if he were trying to hide in it.

"Well, at least I'm the lesser evil," Ronin said dryly, wrapping his arms around the boy and rocking him while he whimpered and sobbed, "what do you say we go meet the queen? She can be the lesser evil for a while."

* * *

><p>The guard outside the queen's chambers saluted when he saw Ronin, then raised an eyebrow at the child trying to hide himself in the general's arms.<p>

"You seem to have found a friend, sir," Narsi leaned to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of the boy's face, but the child refused to look up.

"I did," Ronin rubbed the sniffling boy's back, "is Queen Tara available?"

"She's still meeting with the Willowbrook representatives," Narsi shook his head, "he's really small. How old is he?"

"I don't' know," Ronin shift the boy slightly, trying to give Narsi a better look without upsetting the child, "how old do you think he is?"

Narsi had twin boys, and while they were almost twelve now, he would probably be a better judge of children's ages than Ronin.

"Six maybe," Narsi reached out to brush a matted lock from the boy's face, and the boy snapped at him and growled.

Narsi jerked his hand back and blinked.

"Don't do that," Ronin said firmly, shifting the child so he could see his face.

The boy stared up at him for a moment, then whimpered and hid his face against Ronin's shoulder. Ronin went back to rubbing his back.

"Who is he?" Narsi asked.

"He's our little caravan helper," Ronin unconsciously rocked with the sniffling child, trying to sooth him.

"You're kidding," Narsi's eyes went wide, "he's so young."

"I know," Ronin held the boy closer, "how long has the queen been in her meeting?"

"Three hours now," Narsi shifted his spear to rest against his shoulder and used both hands to catch the boy's leg and push the tattered remains of his pants up over his knee so he could look at the scabs there, "she'll probably be another three with the way they go on."

The boy growled at him and tried to shake his leg free, but Narsi ignored him, carefully brushing away as much dirt as he could to get a better look.

"We'll be lucky if it's only that long," Ronin grumbled, wondering what he was supposed to do with the child in the meantime.

The Willowbrook trade agreements were important, and while Tara would want to know he had found the child, the news wasn't urgent enough to interrupt.

"He needs a bath," Narsi let go of the boy's leg when he tried to kick him.

"I know," Ronin nodded.

"No, he really needs a bath," Narsi insisted, "some of those cuts look like they're starting to get infected, and I'm surprised more of them aren't already."

Ronin gave the guard a speculative look. Narsi had children. He had to know more about taking care of them than Ronin did, and there was no reason Ronin couldn't stand guard while Narsi got the boy cleaned up.

"That's a bad idea sir," Narsi said before Ronin could ask, "he's barely tolerating me as it is, and my boys will never leave him alone."

Ronin supposed being exposed to two rambunctious twelve year olds wouldn't be good for the frightened child, but it was still disappointing he couldn't give the boy to someone who actually knew what to do with him.

"He likes you," Narsi pointed out, "you should take him home and get him cleaned up. I'll tell the queen you have him as soon as she's done."

Ronin regarded the top of the boy's head for a moment then relented. There was nothing for it, at least for now.

"How do you bathe a kid?" he asked.

"Usually with water, sir," to his credit, Narsi managed to keep a straight face, "and soap."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Many, many thanks to Earthstar and Ladydouji who helped me brainstorm and encouraged me to keep writing. This story wouldn't have gotten written without them.

Little Nod has his own tumblr where he takes questions at little-nod dot tumblr dot com.


	2. Ch 2: Visitors

**Chapter two: Visitors**

The boy was entranced by running water. He crouched by the side of the tub and watched it fill, occasionally darting out his hand to touch it. Ronin had to stop him from twisting the faucet and making the bath too hot.

"That's just going to keep filling," Ronin tried to coax him back, "let's get your clothes off so you can get clean."

The child resisted, pointing to the water stream and whistling.

"Yes, it's filling up," Ronin sat on his knees on the floor beside him and started working on undoing the knot that held the leaf around his shoulders in place.

The boy snapped at him and growled, shrinking back and covering the knot with his hand.

"No biting," Ronin said steadily.

The boy continued to glare at him.

"You can't get in the tub with your clothes on," Ronin told him, "and you need new clothes anyway."

Not that Ronin had any clothes to put him in once he was clean. He supposed he could put him in one of his shirts, although it would be huge on him. Ronin reached around the scowling child to turn off the water, and the boy jumped, then tried to reach out and turn the water back on the same way he had seen Ronin do.

"That's enough water," Ronin gently pulled his hands away from the knobs and tugged him onto his lap, "how about we get you undressed and into the tub?"

The boy looked up at him for a moment, then lunged off his lap, scrambling over to where Ronin had coaxed him into setting down the bag with the food, which he seemed to have firmly claimed as his own. He pulled it open and pulled out a beech nut roll, taking a large bite then putting it back. He put the strap over his head and stood up, standing on his toes so he could reach the bar of soap sitting on the edge of the sink. He sniffed at it, then made an attempt to put it in his bag.

"Let's not do that," Ronin stopped him, pulling him back into his lap, "it will make everything in there taste like soap, and you don't want that."

Ronin let him hold onto the bar and pulled the bag back over his head. As soon as he realized what Ronin was doing, he dropped the bar and lunged for the sack, giving a high pitched whine.

"Easy kiddo," Ronin wrapped an arm around his waist to stop him from getting away, "I'm just going to put it here, and as soon as we're done with your bath, you can have it back. We don't want your food to get soggy."

Ronin set the bag on the edge of the sink, hoping that would keep it dry, and handed the bar of soap back to the boy. That seemed to placate him for the moment, and he sniffed at it again, then sniffed at his fingers when the soap left a filmy residue on them. Ronin didn't use scented soap, so hopefully it wouldn't smell like anything the boy thought he could eat.

While the child was distracted with the bar of soap, Ronin managed to undo the knot on the leaf around his shoulders. The boy gave a little shriek of protest when he realized Ronin had taken it off, but he calmed down once he saw Ronin wasn't taking it away, just setting it aside.

"Now for the rest of your clothes," Ronin set him on his feet, turning him to face him.

His shirt and pants were practically worn through. The leaf had probably been the only thing giving him any warmth at all, which could be why he was so attached to it. The drawstring holding up his pants was so knotted and frayed there was no hope of untying it. Luckily, they were loose enough that Ronin was able to pull them down. The boy, still distracted by scraping dents into the bar of soap, stepped out of them amiably enough.

"Off with your shirt too," Ronin pulled it over his head before the boy realized what he was doing.

The boy squeaked, startled, and dropped the bar of soap. Ronin picked it up and held it out to him. He snatched it back, clutching it to his chest and glaring at Ronin.

"You can hold onto it," Ronin told him, standing up, "into the bath you go."

Ronin lifted him up and tried to set him in the tub on his feet, but the boy pulled his knees up and squirmed, whining in protest.

"It's nice and warm," Ronin reassured him, setting him down in the tub.

The child flailed for a moment, sending water splashing everywhere and drenching Ronin, then froze, seeming to suddenly realize that the water wasn't cold. He dipped his hand into it, then slapped at it, creating another huge splash, and giggled. With a happy whistle, he dunked his head underwater, holding his breath for a moment before coming up and shaking out his hair, spraying Ronin again.

"Well, you like water," Ronin wiped his face with his hand, "that's good anyway. Let's get you cleaned up."

Ronin grabbed a washcloth and fished the bar of soap from the tub where the boy had dropped it. The child tried to take it back when he spotted it, but Ronin managed to hold onto it long enough to lather up the washcloth.

The boy watched what he did closely, and when Ronin gave him back the soap, he rubbed it between his hands, making bubbles. The child proudly held his sudsy hands up for Ronin to see, clearly impressed with the foam.

"Good job," Ronin grinned, glad the boy was entertained.

As Ronin cleaned him, he checked him over carefully for injuries. After the child's reaction in the rookery, Ronin wasn't eager to try to take him to the healers ward. Having him panic and run there had the potential to cause a lot more damage than it could have in the rookery. They would need to get him checked out by a healer soon, but Ronin didn't see anything to indicate it needed to be tonight.

Once he was clean, Ronin lifted him out and bundled him in a towel. He almost dropped him when the boy starting squirming and whining on the way out the door. It took him a moment to realize he was reaching for the sack, and as soon as Ronin gave it to him, the child seemed content again.

Time for both of them to get dry and into clean clothes.

* * *

><p>Ronin gave up trying to follow the boy around his apartment, instead sitting on the floor in the middle of his living room, watching as the child explored, poked, and prodded everything he could reach. He was wearing one of Ronin's shirts, and it fell almost to the ground, slowing him down a little, but not much.<p>

He seemed to like being either under things, or perched on top of them, and when he found something he liked or was interesting to him, he brought it back to Ronin. So far Ronin had about half his chess set, a stack of books, his extra wet stone, and a sock he hadn't realized he had lost, all piled beside him. The boy was still carrying the sack with him, and the weight of it had almost unbalanced him a few times while he was climbing on the furniture.

Someone knocked on the door, and the child jumped, then dove under the couch.

Ronin tilted his head down to see the boy curled up under the far corner of the couch, then got up to answer the door. Hopefully, it wasn't an emergency. As general he was always on call, and he was used to that, but he wasn't sure what to do with the boy if he had to leave. Maybe he would get lucky, and it would be a message that the queen was done with her meeting, and he could bring the child to her. She would know what to do with him.

He was slightly disappointed to find a regular courier at the door and not one of the queen's messengers.

"Sir, Captain Finn asks that you come down," the man informed him.

Ronin glanced over his shoulder at his seemingly empty living room, "ask Captain Finn to come here."

"Yes sir," if the courier thought it was a strange request, he kept it to himself.

Ronin returned to his spot on the floor next to the pile of treasures the boy was collecting, and waited to see if he would come out on his own. It took a few minutes, but he eventually crawled out from under the couch. He emerged slightly dusty and clutching something shiny in his hand. He crawled under the coffee table to get to Ronin and settled himself in the general's lap.

The shiny object was a broken armor buckle, and instead of adding it to the pile, the child opened the sack and put it in with the food he had collected. He pulled out a bread roll and sat on Ronin's lap eating it and getting crumbs all over everything.

"We have company coming," Ronin brushed dust from the child's nose; apparently he needed to sweep under the couch more often, "Finn isn't scary, and he'll probably like you. He has a brother that isn't much older than you."

The boy showed no sign of understanding, instead looking up at Ronin curiously, then offering him the half eaten roll.

"No, you can finish it," Ronin said in amusement, gently closing the boy's hand around it.

The child seemed satisfied with this and went back to eating. He was sprawled across Ronin's lap on his stomach, rearranging the pile he had collected when a knock at the door came. The boy narrowly missed hitting his head on the coffee table as he scrambled for his hiding place under the couch.

"Come in Finn," Ronin called, ducking his head to try to catch a glimpse of the hiding child.

"Um," Finn let himself in and stood in the entryway eyeing the general curiously, "are you alright?"

"Yeah," Ronin straightened up, "I have a guest. I found the boy who was taking food from the caravans."

"Really?" Finn hung his helmet on the weapons rack next to the door, "where is he?"

"Under the couch," Ronin pointed, "you scared him."

Finn quirked an eyebrow at him and hung his sword on the rack as well, "have you figured out who he is?"

"No," Ronin shook his head, "I don't think he can talk."

"How old is he?" Finn came in and sat on the ground facing Ronin.

"I'm not sure," Ronin said, "old enough, I think, that he should be talking."

"You think he was totally alone then?" Finn leaned forward to try and see the child and was rewarded with a very fox like growl.

He looked at the general in surprise, and Ronin shrugged.

"Yeah, I think he's been on his own for a while," Ronin nodded.

"That's not good," Finn sat up straight again, "I'll send a messenger over to Nim and have him start pulling information on missing children."

"Have him pull information on children that have been presumed dead as well," Ronin added.

Jinn lived long, long lives, and as a natural compensation for that, children were relatively rare. It made them precious and well guarded. No child quietly went missing among the Jinn. It was more likely that the boy had been presumed dead and no one had been looking for him.

"It would be nice if I had a description to give to Nim," Finn hinted.

"He's had a rough day. I'm not going to pull him out from under the couch." Ronin said, "plus, he bites."

"Alright then," Finn found that more amusing than he probably should have, "the harvest caravans hitting up the dandelions in the west meadow are having trouble with voles."

"Voles?" Ronin made a face.

"Yeah, maybe they breed well this year or something," Finn waved his hand dismissively, "I want to move a couple of the regular patrols over to help with them, but I wanted to check with you first.

"That's fine," Ronin agreed, "does Asa know how much longer they're going to be at it?"

Ronin had been trying to track down the boy for days, and Finn had plenty to catch him up on. They had been talking for nearly twenty minutes when Ronin felt a slight pressure against his back and realized the boy had crept out from under the couch and was crouched behind him. He pretended not to notice, and eventually the child worked up the nerve to peer over his shoulder.

Finn stopped mid-sentence and blinked, "hi."

The boy ducked back down quickly, huddling against Ronin's back.

"He's tiny Ronin," Finn said in disbelief.

"I know," Ronin nodded.

"How was he on his own?" Finn leaned to the side, trying to catch another glimpse of him.

"I have no idea," Ronin shook his head.

The boy dropped down to all fours and peaked around Ronin's elbow. Finn waved, and he ducked back again.

"Apparently, you're scary," Ronin teased.

"Apparently," Finn snorted softly, "he likes you though."

"That's because I'm not scary," Ronin smirked.

"No," Finn laughed, "it's because you're so scary, you scare everything else away."

At the sound of Finn's laugh the boy pushed his way between Ronin's elbow and his side, leaning on his leg and looking at Finn curiously. Ronin smiled down at him and patted his back.

"You need stuff," Finn said.

"What?" Ronin gave him a blank look.

"He needs stuff," Finn clarified, "clothes and bedding and toys."

"He's not staying with me," Ronin shifted to let the child crawl into his lap, "maybe tonight if the queen doesn't finish with her meeting soon, but then…"

"He also needs a haircut," Finn ignored Ronin's objection.

"I know," Ronin brushed the unruly, matted hair out of the boy's face, "he's so squirmy, I was worried about cutting him if I tried."

"Do you even own a comb?" Finn raised an eyebrow at Ronin's short cropped hair.

"I'm going to make sure you don't need one either if you don't knock it off," Ronin rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, the boy pulled his sack forward and started digging through it. He pulled out the broken buckle and held it up, pointing at Finn.

"What?" Finn studied the object for a moment, then grinned, "oh, that's right, that's a shoulder buckle," he pointed to the buckle on his armor.

The boy crept off Ronin's lap and sat himself on the floor between them, holding up the broken buckle to compare to Finn's. He pressed it to his shoulder in the same spot Finn's was, and when it didn't stay there, looked back to Ronin expectantly.

"It doesn't work that way," Finn held out his hand with a laugh.

The boy gave him a suspicious look and turned back to Ronin.

"Go on," Ronin smiled encouragingly.

Reluctantly, the child put the buckle in Finn's hand. Finn threaded it through the lacing on the neck of the shirt the boy was wearing and tied it firmly in place.

"There you go," Finn grinned.

The boy tugged on it to make sure it wouldn't come off, then smiled widely and showed it to Ronin.

"Very nice," Ronin nodded in approval.

Satisfied, the child got to his feet and resumed his exploration of Ronin's apartment.

"I think you made a friend," Ronin laughed.

"I think he still likes you better," Finn snickered, "do you want me to just assume you'll still have him tomorrow morning and take care of the morning meetings?"

"Yes please," Ronin held out his hand, accepting another chess piece from the boy and adding it to the pile beside him.

"Got it," Finn rose to his feet and stretched, "anything else?"

The boy jumped and scampered back to Ronin, ducking behind his back again and watching Finn from over his shoulder.

"See he likes you better," Finn grinned and went to get his sword.

"Right," Ronin rolled his eyes, "you need to meet with Asa after you meet with the captains, then you'll probably have to meet with Butler, and don't forget to send the messenger to Nim tonight."

"Got it," Finn gave him a half salute with his sword before putting it back on, "I'll send you stuff."

"I don't need stuff," Ronin protested, "he's not staying."

But Finn was already out the door, leaving Ronin with the boy and his pile of treasures.

* * *

><p>It was late, and Ronin had given up on being able to talk to Tara before the next day. That meant he had to do something with the boy for the night. The child was starting to show signs of being tired at least, so hopeful he would go to sleep without much fuss.<p>

"What do you think kiddo, bed time?" Ronin asked.

The boy jumped at the sound of his voice, as if he had forgotten Ronin was there, then stared at him curiously.

"How about you take the bed tonight?" Ronin stood and offered the child his hand, "it will probably be a nice change for you."

The boy looked at Ronin's hand curiously, as if he wasn't sure what to do with it. Ronin wiggled his fingers, and when the boy still didn't take it, he leaned down and took the child's hand in his, helping him to his feet. The boy studied their joined hands, then squeezed Ronin's hand and grinned. Ronin took this as a good sign and lead the boy down the hall to the bedroom. As soon as they got there, the child let go of Ronin and started exploring every nook and cranny. Ronin caught him before he could wiggle under the bed.

"On top, not under," Ronin scooped him up and dropped him on the bed, grinning as the child bounced and giggled.

He bounced a few more times, then looked around the room and frowned. He started pulling all the blankets into a bundle in the center of the bed along with the pillows. Ronin let him do what he wanted, although he had to reach out to stop him from hitting his head on the headboard when he lost his balance trying to pull free a blanket. It took Ronin a few minutes of watching him to realize he was making a nest. Ronin was beginning to suspect the child had spent a substantial amount of time with birds.

Once the nest was complete, the child plopped down in the middle of it and looked around again. His nose wrinkled, and he crawled out, slid off the bed, grabbed an armful of blankets, and marched past Ronin towards the living room.

Ronin raised his eyebrows and stepped back, letting the boy walk by him before following. The child looked around the living room, then dragged his blankets back behind the couch, wiggling his way into the narrow space.

"I think you might be more comfortable on the bed," Ronin offered.

The child ignored him and continued to rearrange blankets. Ronin watched him for a moment, then grinned, "clever boy."

Behind the couch was a more secure location than the bedroom, at least for a little boy. The child would be able to see the door, and crawl under the couch where it was harder to grab him if something frightened him.

Ronin went over and pulled the couch out to give the child more room, angling it so his nest of blankets was shielded from the door. The boy jumped and looked up at him, then looked around again, and deciding it was satisfactory, went to get more blankets.

He was still making trips to bring blankets and pillows to his nest when there was a knock at the door. He dove for cover behind the couch while Ronin went to answer it.

Tara was standing there when he opened it, without any of her guards he noted with some annoyance, although that would be a conversation for another day.

"You found him?" she asked anxiously.

"Yes," Ronin stepped back as Tara came in, "I'm not sure it's appropriate for you to be here."

"I'm the queen," Tara waved her hand dismissively, "of course it's appropriate."

"It doesn't work that way," Ronin closed the door anyway, "he's hiding behind the couch. He's pretty skittish."

"We'll just have to wait then," Tara folded her hands in front of her, "how is he?"

"Tiny," Ronin resolved himself to Tara staying and sat on the floor again, hoping to draw the boy out, "and scared."

"Have you gotten him to the healers yet?" Tara sat herself on the floor across from him, dress swirling out around her.

"No," Ronin shook his head, "he panicked in the rookery, and it was almost empty. The healers ward would have been worse. I gave him a bath though. He doesn't look like he has any serious injuries, although he could stand to gain some weight."

"You gave a child a bath?" Tara barely suppressed her laughter, "how did it go?"

"It was wet," Ronin said drolly, just managing to stop himself from turning at the sound of shuffling from the direction of the couch.

"Well, you managed it without drowning either of you, so well done," Tara laughed.

"You have very low standards," Ronin drawled.

The child had brought a blanket out with him to hide under and wiggled his way under the coffee table. He reached out from under the blanket and poked at a ruffle on Tara's skirt. Tara's eyes slid to the side, but she followed Ronin's example and pretended not to notice him.

"Do you know anything about him yet?" Tara asked.

"Not much," Ronin couldn't help grinning when the child poked his head out from under the blanket and sniffed at Tara's skirt, "he doesn't seem to talk, but he does a good impression of a bird."

Either the boy liked how the material smelt or liked the feel of it, because he gathered it in both hands and rubbed his face against it.

"Hello there," Tara cooed softly, unable to resist the child any longer.

The boy started and looked up at her, skirt still clutched in his hands. It took him less than a second to drop the skirt and scramble for Ronin. Ronin caught him before he could duck behind him, scooping him up to hold in his lap.

"Sorry kiddo," Ronin let him squirm until he could hide his face against Ronin's shoulder, "you need to meet the queen."

"Aren't you a handsome boy," Tara leaned forward, voice gentle.

The boy peered at her, hands fisted in Ronin's shirt as if he was afraid she would snatch him away.

"I'm Tara," Tara held her hand out to the child.

"Queen Tara," Ronin corrected mildly, rubbing the boy's back.

The child looked between Tara's hand and Ronin uncertainly.

"Go on," Ronin reached out and took Tara's hand, "she's not going to hurt you."

The boy was unimpressed and hid his face against Ronin's shoulder again.

"He likes you an awful lot already," Tara smiled.

"Well, I did feed him," Ronin shifted his grip on Tara's hand so he was holding it palm up.

"And protected him from the scary Leafmen in the rookery, and bathed him, and clothed him, and gave him someplace warm to sleep," Tara was clearly amused, "I always knew you'd be good with children."

"Tara," Ronin protested, ducking his head against the boy's hair to hide his faint blush.

The child tipped his head back, giving Ronin a puzzled look. When Ronin didn't lift his head, he gave up and turned his attention back to Tara. Tara wiggled her fingers invitingly at the child, and he finally gave in, putting his hand tentatively in hers.

"It's very nice to meet you," Tara curled her fingers around his tiny hand, squeezing gently.

The boy squeezed back, then pulled his hand away and tucked himself against Ronin.

"I think he's tired," Tara smiled softly.

"He's had a rough day," Ronin unconsciously cuddled the child closer.

"You should probably keep him for tonight," Tara reached out and tucked a tangled strand of hair behind the child's ear, and the boy swatted sleepily at her, making her laugh, "he seems to be settled with you."

"That's fine," Ronin agreed, "I'll take him to the healers tomorrow, then bring him to you."

"Just come see me," Tara shook her head, "I'll have Glory meet us, and we'll decide what to do from there."

"I'll see you tomorrow morning then," Ronin nodded.

"Goodnight sweetheart," Tara leaned forward, stroking back the child's hair, "I'll see you tomorrow."

The boy wrinkled his nose, but didn't push her away this time.

"Goodnight Ronin," Tara stood, "I'll let myself out. You put your little bird to bed."

The boy reached out, letting the material of Tara's skirt slide through his fingers as she turned to go.

"Goodnight your majesty," Ronin watched the boy in amusement.

The child stayed in Ronin's lap for a few minutes, watching the door as if he expected Tara to come back. When she didn't, he crawled off Ronin's lap and back to his nest behind the couch.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep in the bed?" Ronin looked down at him over the back of the couch.

The boy ignored him, tugging and rearranging blankets and pillows until he was satisfied, then curling in the center of his nest and sticking his thumb in his mouth. He fell asleep as soon as he stopped wiggling.

Ronin grinned and tucked the blankets more securely around him. He considered sleeping in his own bed, but in the end, he fell asleep on the couch to the soft sound of the child's snoring.

* * *

><p>Don't forget, you can visit little Nod at little-nod dot tumblr dot com.<p> 


	3. Ch 3: Check Up

**Chapter three: Check Up**

Ronin was up before his little guest. He leaned over the back of the couch to check on him and found him sleeping soundly, thumb still in his mouth. He figured he should get dressed before the child woke up and started poking through everything again.

As it turned out, he didn't need to worry. The boy slept through him getting dressed and starting breakfast. He didn't wake until someone knocked on the door. Ronin heard a squeak, followed by scrambling that probably meant the child was wiggling his way under the couch.

He opened the door to two couriers, both of them carrying multiple bags.

"Captain Finn sent 'stuff' sir," one of them said with a perfectly straight face.

The Moonhaven couriers were used to the random and partial messages that got passed between he and Finn, but sometimes Ronin thought they made a game of delivering them with a straight face.

He shook his head and stepped back, motioning them in, "you can set it down here, thank you."

Ronin left the bags sitting in the middle of the floor and went to pull the acorn mash off the stove before it burnt. When he came back into the room, he found the boy had crept out from under the couch and was poking cautiously at the bags. He had knotted a blanket around his shoulders like a cloak, and he was still wearing his food sack.

He yawned hugely and dug an acorn dumpling out of the sack, munching on it sleepily as he examined the bags.

"Good morning chickadee," Ronin said.

The boy jumped and looked up at him. For a moment Ronin thought he was going to dive back under the couch, then he relaxed and went back to prodding at the bags, working loose the latch on one of them with fingers he had already managed to get sticky.

"How about some breakfast, then we'll see what Finn sent you?" Ronin held his hand out to the boy.

The child gave the hand a confused look, then his face brightened, and he pulled another dumpling out of his sack and put it in Ronin's hand.

"Thank you," Ronin chuckled, popping it in his mouth, "now how about something with a little less sugar."

Ronin picked him up and carried him to the table. He tried sitting him in a chair, but he was too small to reach the table, and as soon as Ronin let go, he stood up and hopped down. Ronin scooped him up again and got a scowl and insistent pointing at the bags in the living room.

"Trust me, you'll be happier with breakfast first," Ronin sat him on his lap.

The boy squirmed until Ronin spooned out a bowl of acorn mash for him, and it became apparent very quickly that the child had no patience to wait for things to cool off. He also didn't know how to use a spoon. Ronin pushed the bowl away and grabbed the bowl of dried fruit, setting it in front of the child and letting him shove that into his mouth while the mash cooled. What didn't go in his mouth went into his sack, and Ronin managed to save the last handful to mix into the cooled acorn mash.

The child ate the whole bowl, and Ronin didn't know how someone so small could eat so much. Ronin managed some breakfast for himself while the boy sat contently on his lap, licking acorn mash and sticky bits of dried fruit from his hands. He had managed to get it in his hair and all over his face and shirt, and Ronin was glad he hadn't dressed him before breakfast. Ronin left the dirty dishes on the table and carried the sticky child to the bathroom, managing to wipe clean his face and hands before he squirmed away to run back to the bags in the living room.

Ronin watched him trot away, amused at the amount of energy he had, then followed him. It was getting late, and Ronin needed to see if there were any clothes for the boy in the 'stuff' Finn had sent over and get him to the queen.

The child managed to undo the clasp on one of the larger bags and tipped it over, but nothing spilled out. The bag had rolled bedding in it, and the boy nearly toppled backwards trying to pull out the futon mat and the fluffy blankets. Ronin rolled his eyes. He had told Finn he didn't need bedding. The boy had only stayed with him for the night. They would be finding a more suitable person for him to stay with today.

Ronin shifted through two bags, one with toys and another with extra blankets and towels, before he found one with clothes. Right on top was a small jacket with owl shaped buckles running down the front. Ronin grinned and held it up.

"Hey chickadee, let's get you dressed," he held it out to the boy, who toppled off the pile of bedding he had been bouncing on in his haste to get the jacket.

The boy ran his fingers over the buckles, chirping excitedly, then hugged the jacket to himself. Ronin took advantage of his distraction to get him into pants and a shirt. Finn had been close on the size, but both hung loose on him.

"Do you want to wear that?" Ronin gave the sleeve of the jacket a little tug.

The child let him take the jacket, but watched him suspiciously, looking ready to pounce if he tried to take it too far away. Ronin snickered softly in amusement and helped the boy put the jacket on. The child's face lit up when he realized he could wear the buckles, and he chirped and whistled happily, bouncing slightly to make them jingle.

Ronin handed him back his sack and sat him on the ground to get his shoes on. The boy was so distracted making the buckles jingle that he barely noticed Ronin pulling his socks on, but when Ronin tried to put the first shoe on, his head jerked up, and he pulled his foot back.

"What?" Ronin gave him a confused look, "do they not fit? They look like they're the right size."

The boy pulled the shoe off, then both his socks, tossing them aside and wiggling his toes.

Ronin frowned and picked them up, examining them for anything that would have poked at the boy's feet. The shoes were soft soled moccasins and the socks looked like they were made of cottonwood seed, so they should have been soft enough. Ronin held the bottom of a shoe against the boy's foot to see if they were the right size, and if anything, they seemed a little big for him. The child kicked at the shoe, scowling at Ronin for distracting him from his buckles.

"You need to wear shoes kiddo," Ronin tried to get the socks on again, "it's too cold to run around barefoot."

The boy kicked his foot free of Ronin's grasp with a disgruntled whine. Ronin raised his eyebrows and picked the boy up, sitting him in his lap and trying again. Despite his squirming and whining, Ronin managed to get both shoes on, only to have the child wriggle away, growling at him like an angry fox kit, and bolt for under the couch. Ronin wasn't quite quick enough to catch him and a moment later both shoes were tossed out from under the couch, followed by the pair of socks.

Ronin narrowed his eyes. He knew the boy had been running around the forest barefoot, but he wasn't in the forest anymore, and his feet had to be cold.

"Come out," Ronin ducked down to see under the couch.

The boy barked at him, drawing back.

"They're just shoes, they'll keep your feet warm," Ronin tried to grab him, and he snapped at his fingers.

Instead, Ronin caught the strap of his sack and tugged it out. As expected, the child followed, and Ronin grabbed him, lifting him up in the air.

"Got you!" Ronin held the flailing boy up, managing not to get hit by any thrashing limbs, "you need shoes."

Ronin tucked the squirming, growling child under one arm and retrieved the shoes, sitting the boy back in his lap and putting them back on. The boy screamed and kicked his feet, pulling his arm loose from Ronin's grasp and managing to get one of the shoes off. He threw it across the room and flailed to reach the other one.

They didn't seem to be hurting him. He just really didn't want them on. Ronin ducked a bony little elbow and wondered if his neighbors could hear the racket the boy was raising. The boy paused to suck in a breath for another round of screams, and Ronin gave in, pulling the other shoe off before he could start.

The child paused, startled, and blinked up at Ronin.

"Alright, no shoes," Ronin looked down at him, "but that means we're bringing the blanket to keep your feet warm."

The child sniffled, and Ronin jingled one of the buckles on his jacket to distract him. The boy latched onto it, wrapping his hands around it and calming down. Ronin sighed in relief. It was definitely time to get the child to the queen and into more capable hands than his.

Bundling him up in the blanket he had been using as a cloak, Ronin headed out the door with the child in his arms, leaving the dirty dishes on the table.

* * *

><p>Glory was already there by the time Ronin arrived. Ronin had a healthy respect for Moonhaven's head healer. The morning glory jinn had been keeping Leafmen in line since before Ronin had enlisted. He had heard rumors that she had a soft spot for children, but he had rarely been around her when she was with civilians. Apparently, her bedside manner improved significantly, although Ronin would have to see it to believe it.<p>

"Your buckle is a little crooked general," Tara informed him with a teasing grin.

"I know," Ronin said dryly, "he figured out how to undo it, and he's been buckling and unbuckling it the whole way here."

The boy in question looked up from the buckle he was currently working on undoing, spotted the two women, and pulled the blanket he was wrapped in over his head in a rush, hiding his face against Ronin's chest.

"You don't even have to say anything and you scare people," Ronin smirked at Glory.

"Shut it," Glory responded mildly.

Tara leaned forward and pulled the blanket back just enough to see the child's face, "good morning sweetheart, do you remember me? We met last night."

The boy stared at her for a moment, then snatched back the blanket edge and went back to trying to hide.

"I don't know if that's a yes or a no," Tara laughed softly.

"He's a little grumpy," Ronin patted the child's back, "I tried to put shoes on him, and he didn't like it."

"Have you noticed anything wrong with his feet?" Glory stepped forward, pulling the blanket away from the boy's legs.

"No," Ronin shifted the child to make it easier for her to see, "he's been running all over the place and climbing everything. He just doesn't seem to like them."

The child growled and tried to kick at her, and Ronin moved him to his hip so he could help hold his leg still.

"You're okay buddy," Ronin soothed, "Glory just wants to have a look."

"Does he talk?" Glory pushed up his pant leg and ran her hand over his foot.

The boy barked and tried to kick her again.

"Stop that," Ronin said firmly.

The child looked up at him, then looked away sullenly, squirming as if he wanted down.

"Not so far," Ronin adjusted his grip, "and he doesn't seem to understand anything I've said to him."

"Well, his feet look fine," Glory let go of him, "he's got some pretty sturdy calluses on the bottoms of them. Go head and set him down."

"He likes to run," Ronin cautioned as he set the boy on his feet, "and hide."

"There's nowhere for him to go in here," Tara pointed out, "and maybe a little exploring will put him in a better mood."

Glory crouched down so she was on the boy's eye level, and instead of running, he clung to Ronin's leg and hid his face against it. Ronin dropped his hand down to stroke his hair.

"He likes you Ronin," Glory snickered.

"Well, Ronin is very likable," Tara grinned.

"I don't think he's that hard to win over," Ronin said, unimpressed, "he likes being fed."

Glory snorted and reached out to pull the blanket away, "let's have a good look at you sweet pea."

The child tugged hard on the blanket, refusing to let it go. Ronin crouched down beside him, putting a hand on his back.

"It's alright kiddo," Ronin reached out and jingled one of the buckles on his jacket, "Glory doesn't want to take your blanket. She just wants to have a look at you."

The child was momentarily distracted by the buckles, but when Glory tried to take the blanket off of him, his attention snapped back to her, and he barked and tugged harder.

"You have an excellent grip," Glory cooed, "what if I let you keep the blanket, and you just hold onto it instead of being all wrapped up in it?"

The child continued to bare his teeth at her and growl. Ronin slipped a hand into the boy's sack, pulling out a blackberry dumpling and offering it to him. As soon as the boy saw it, he let go of the blanket and reached for it. The blanket fell to the ground, and he happily munched on the sweet, getting jam all over his hands and face.

"Aren't you a handsome little man," Glory smiled at him, finally able to get a good look at him.

He watched her warily, leaning against Ronin's side as he chewed.

"He's active and he's responsive, so that's good," Glory studied the child thoughtfully, "let's get his clothes off so I can get a good look at him."

Getting the boy undressed proved easier said than done. He hadn't put up that much of a fight the night before, but apparently he liked his new clothes. He growled and snarled and tried to run, and when that didn't work, he bit Glory's hand. The healer pulled back sharply, and Ronin caught the boy before he could run.

"No biting," he said sternly, dropping back down so he was on the child's eye level.

The boy scowled at him and tried to squirm away, and when that didn't work, he started to cry. Ronin hugged him to his side, rubbing his back.

"You're alright buddy," Ronin murmured, "no one is going to hurt you or take your things."

"Did he break the skin?" Tara asked, pulling Glory's hand over so she could see.

"Yes, but its fine," she waved the queen away, "he's hardly the first child to have bitten me."

"That I believe," Ronin muttered, bringing a hand up to cradle the sniffling boy's head when he laid it on Ronin's shoulder and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

"Ronin, he likes you," Glory ignored his comment, "why don't you try getting his clothes off?"

"So he'll stop liking me?" Ronin quirked, but shifted the child back so he was standing up straight.

Ronin had better luck than Glory, with some help from Tara, who distracted the child with blooming flowers and moving vines. He managed to get the boy down to his undershorts by letting him hold onto his jacket and keep his sack on. The child clutched his jacket to his chest, watching Glory warily, as if he expected her to snatch it away at any moment. Ronin lifted him up onto the table so it would be easier for Glory to examine him.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Glory smiled.

The child sulked and leaned against Ronin's side.

The healer examined the child thoroughly, checking over all his limbs and joints, listening to his breathing and heart. He was not a very cooperative patient. He whined and whimpered and shied away from her hands. They had to get him to set his jacket down so Glory could listen to his chest properly without the clanking of the buckles interfering. Even though Ronin was holding it where he could see it, he kept trying to reach out and snatch it back.

After the third failed attempt to take it back, he screamed and pushed Glory's hands away. With an angry shriek and a stomp of his foot, he pushed against Ronin with all his strength, trying to shove him away and take back his jacket at the same time. He had no success at all with either task.

"Easy there buddy," Ronin put a hand on his back to steady him, "you can have your jacket back in just a minute."

This was not the answer the child was looking for. He wailed and started to sob loudly.

"Go head and give it back to him," Glory shook her head, "I'm not going to get anywhere with him this upset."

It was too late to placate the boy though. He shoved Ronin's hand away and managed to slip under his arm, jumping off the table. Tara almost caught him by the strap of his sack, but he slid free of it, scrambling for the underbrush and low leaves of the plants that grew in the queen's chamber.

"I told you he likes to run," Ronin set the jacket on the table and jogged after him.

There were, in fact, better hiding places for a little boy in the queen's chamber than in the rookery. Ronin found him twice because he was still sniffling, but both times the child managed to escape under something too small for Ronin to get at him and squirm out the other side before Ronin could get there. After twenty minutes of near misses and fifteen minutes of not even hearing him sniffle, Ronin gave up and called for help.

"Your majesty, can you tell where he is?" Ronin called.

Tara turned a slow circle where she was standing. She could feel the shifting and movement of all her plants; their roots digging into rich soil, and their leaves reaching for the sun. He was so small that it took her a moment to isolate his movement from the other subtle shiftings around her.

"He's climbing up the vines on the west wall," Tara called once she had pin pointed him, "you better get him down before he gets any higher. I don't want to grab him with the vines; that will only frighten him more."

Ronin headed in the direction of the wall, spotting the boy half way up and climbing faster than Ronin thought someone with such small limbs should be able to.

"Chickadee come down," Ronin called gently, "no one is going to hurt you."

The boy looked down at him and hiccupped, rubbing furiously at his eyes with his arm and sniffling.

"Come on," Ronin held his arms out to him.

The boy regarded him for a moment, then scowled and jumped from the vine he was holding onto one almost twice his height above him. Ronin's heart skipped a beat when it looked like he was going to fall, but he dug his toes in and scrambled up.

Ronin hurried up after him, trusting Tara to make sure the vines held his weight. When the boy realized Ronin was following him, he made a distressed noise and tried to climb faster. Quick though the child was, Ronin had the advantage of longer limbs, and it didn't take him long to catch up.

Ronin snatched the boy around the waist and jumped down to a mossy ledge half way up the wall. The child screamed and wailed, kicking and struggling against Ronin's hold, clearly terrified and overwhelmed. Ronin sat on the ledge with his feet dangling and cradled the distraught child in his arms, rocking him gently.

"Everything's okay chickadee," he cooed into the child's hair, "you're alright."

The child continued to sob, hands gripping the edge of Ronin's armor and face pressed to his chest.

"Can one of you toss me up his jacket?" Ronin called down, "and maybe his blanket."

Tara sent the jacket up on the tip of a vine, and Ronin put it in the boy's arms. He cuddled it to himself, holding it like a stuffed animal to his chest and burying his face in it. Ronin continued to rock him and shush him, using a corner of the jacket to wipe away his tears.

Tara and Glory exchanged knowing looks, and Tara lifted the blanket up to Ronin as well. Ronin wrapped the boy up in it and stayed on the ledge, rocking him and murmuring to him until he had calmed. His sobs wound down to hiccups, then petered out to sniffling, and Ronin finally came down with him.

When the boy saw the two women waiting for him, he pressed himself closer to Ronin, trying to hide in the folds of his blanket.

"Let me get a look at his teeth, then we'll call it quits for the day," Glory said.

"Do you want to get bitten again?" Ronin asked dryly, but he pulled back the blanket so she could take a look.

The child whimpered and tried to turn his head away, but Glory managed to get a quick look at his teeth and gums before letting him go. Ronin shifted the boy to hold against his shoulder, helping him untangle the blanket enough to pull over his head. The child wrapped an arm around Ronin's neck and stuck the thumb of his free hand in his mouth, keeping his jacket tucked safely against his chest.

"He doesn't look that bad," Glory said, "if the calluses on his feet are any indication, he could have been on his own for as long as four or five months."

"Months?" Tara repeated skeptically, "how is that even possible?"

"Don't know," Glory frowned speculatively at the bundle of blankets in Ronin's arms, "he's not too bad health wise, but I am concerned by how underweight he is. It's going to make him vulnerable to illness, especially with how easily he seems to become stressed."

"Why wouldn't a bunch of strange people poking at him stress him out?" Ronin cradled the child's head protectively against his shoulder.

Tara's lips quirked up in a barely suppressed smile.

"He's really taken a liking to you general," Glory said thoughtfully.

"So?" Ronin unconsciously rocked with the boy.

"I think it would best if he stayed with you for a while," Glory decided.

"What!" Ronin froze, the exclamation coming out louder than he meant it to.

The child whimpered, and Ronin returned to rocking with him.

"He's gotten attached to you," Glory explained slowly, as if she thought Ronin were particularly dense, "putting him with someone else now would only cause him stress and risk him getting sick."

"That's a terrible idea," Ronin protested, "I don't know anything about taking care of children, and I'm always on duty. I can get called away at any time. What do I do with him then?"

"I'm sure Captain Finn can help you with that," Tara said serenely, "consider it a special assignment. Take three or four days off to get him settled, then maybe you can try half days while he's with a nanny."

"A nanny?" Ronin echoed, "I don't even know who I would ask to find one, and we're in the middle of the fall harvest. I can't just not work."

"Oh trust me, you'll be working," Glory gave him a toothy grin, "children are a lot of work. You keep claiming Captain Finn is competent. Let him prove it for a few days."

Ronin gaped at the two women, sure they had both gone crazy. The boy gave a tired whine in his arms, nuzzling his face into the crook of Ronin's neck. His face was still wet with tears, and he tightened the hold he had on Ronin's shoulders.

Ronin sighed.

"Fine," he relented, "for the record, I think this is an awful idea, but if that's what you think is best, I'll try."

"I'm sure you'll do wonderful general," Tara smiled.


	4. Ch 4: Settling In

By the time Ronin got home, the boy was sound asleep. Ronin considered trying to lay him down on the bed, but he had seemed rather partial to his nest, and he would probably be happier waking up in a familiar place, so Ronin tucked him in behind the couch.

The boy yawned wide and cuddled his sack to his chest, snuggling under the blanket Ronin tucked around him. The morning had worn him out, and he didn't look very inclined to wake up any time soon.

Glory had given Ronin a list of things she wanted the boy eating. They were all fairly normal foods. Lots of cattail, especially cattail pollen, which Ronin had never cared for, but hopefully the boy would like. Fresh fruit, although the wasn't much in season at the moment, and there wouldn't be anything in season once winter hit, so hopefully dried fruit would do. Nuts of all kinds, which should be simple enough if the way the child had taken to acorn mash was any indication.

Ronin had no idea how or when he would actually make it to the market to pick all of this up though. He couldn't imagine taking the child with him, not with the way strangers seemed to make him panic.

Actually, he had no idea what he was going to do about anything, and he thought Glory deciding he should take care of a child may have been a sign that she had finally been driven to insanity by one too many new recruits doing stupid things.

Someone knocked on the door and Ronin winced, checking to see if it had woken the boy. The child simply rolled over and resumed sucking his thumb. Ronin hurried to the door before another knock could come.

"Three days?" Finn said by way of greeting, "are you alright?"

"Shhh!" Ronin hissed, glancing over his shoulder, "he's sleeping."

"The kid is still here?" Finn dropped his voice, coming in when Ronin stepped back.

"Yes," Ronin rolled his eyes, "Glory and Tara have both gone crazy."

"That's nothing new," Finn shrugged and hung his sword on the weapons rack, "well, Tara isn't usually crazy, but Glory sort of always is. But why is he still with you?"

"They think he's attached to me, and it will upset him enough to make him sick if they try to put him with someone else," Ronin explained.

"Yeah, I can see that," Finn nodded.

"Finn," Ronin said in annoyance.

"Shhh," Finn echoed back at him with a smirk, "where is he anyway?"

"Behind the couch," Ronin motioned toward the boy's sleeping spot, "he made himself a nest."

Finn leaned over the back of the couch, peering down at the sleeping boy with a grin.

"They're always cuter when they're asleep," Finn said softly, turning around so he could sit on the couch, "so how long do you have him?"

"I don't know," Ronin slumped down in his chair, "until he puts on some weight, and Glory thinks he's healthy enough to handle the stress of being placed with someone else, or Nim finds his family. Which ever happens first."

"That could be a while," Finn said, "it takes forever to find people in the scrolls without an exact time and place, and he's not going to suddenly plump up no matter how much food you give him. You could have him for a month or two."

"I know," Ronin rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I have no idea what I'm going to do with him."

"You'll figure it out," Finn shrugged, "if you can figure out how to lead an entire army, you can figure out what to do with a six year old."

"I don't think those skill sets overlap," Ronin said doubtfully.

"Well, while you're figuring that out, I have to run your army," Finn stretched his legs out in front of him, "so is there anything that isn't business as usual for the next couple days?"

"Shouldn't be much," Ronin leaned back in his chair, "don't forget to check in with Dag about that new Leafman he was threatening to kick out. I think his name is Ilex. I haven't seen anything come across my desk since last week, but keep an eye on it."

"Dag's crazy newbie, got it," Finn snickered, "do I need to meet with Asa tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yeah, review the scouting reports for the bogs before you do," Ronin shook his head, "he's really pushing to hit up the cranberries, but I think it's too risky."

"I'll take a look," Finn nodded, "as long as I can actually find them in your office."

"You better hope I'm back in a few days, or you're going to have to go through everything on my desk and figure out if any of it is important," Ronin pointed out mildly.

"What are you going to do with him when you're back on duty?" Finn asked.

"I don't even know what I'm going to do with him now," Ronin groaned, "I don't even know what I need. I haven't had time to go through the stuff you sent over, and it wouldn't matter if I had, because I have no idea what else I would need."

"Huh," Finn pushed himself off the couch, "I actually don't know what mom put in there."

"You're mom packed those?" Ronin raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Finn sat on the floor, opening the nearest bag, "I dropped by their place last night after I talked to you. Eben is bigger than your little bird, and the triplets are still a lot smaller, so I figured she would have stuff she wasn't using that would be about the right size. Also that she would know what you needed. I put the jacket in though. I figured he would like it."

"Yeah, he does, thanks," Ronin joined him on the floor, "and thank your mother for me."

"I'll stop by their place again tonight when I get off," Finn nodded, "and I'll ask her if there's anything else she thinks you need."

There was a shifting from behind the couch, and Ronin leaned forward to see under it. The boy had crawled out of his nest and was peering out at them. When he saw Ronin looking and him, he yawned and crawled under the coffee table and into his lap.

"See, he likes you," Finn grinned at him.

The child blinked at him, then stretched and made himself comfortable on his back with his head resting on Ronin's arm. He reached into his sack and pulled out a half eaten bread roll, munching on it sleepily.

"Can you get a cup of blackberry juice for me?" Ronin asked, shifting the child into a more comfortable position, "Glory said he's a little on the dehydrated side."

Finn got up to go to the kitchen, and Ronin watched the boy eat in amusement.

"We should probably figure out how much of a mess you've made in that sack of yours," Ronin stroked the boy's hair, "and maybe get you a new one that we don't put jelly filled sweets in. What do you think about that?"

The boy chirped lazily at him and continued to chew.

"Here you go," Finn returned with a glass, "although I hope you realize how hard blackberry juice stains are to get out of things."

Ronin snorted and took the glass from him, offering it to the boy. The child looked at it sleepily, then tried to pull it down to himself instead of sitting up, almost spilling the juice on everything. Ronin manage to stop him before he could make too much of a mess, forcing him to sit up and lean back against him. He held the glass for the boy while he drank, then almost spilled it again when the child finished and flopped lazily back down across Ronin's lap without warning.

"He needs a sippy cup," Finn said, just barely containing his laughter.

"What the hell is a sippy cup?" Ronin asked, snatching up a towel from the stack Finn's mother had sent over and wiping off the boy's face.

"It's sort of the mid way point between a bottle and a cup. It has a lid so it doesn't spill quite as easily," Finn explained, "also, children learn and repeat profanity disproportionately to other words."

Ronin stared at him for a moment, then shook his head, "I am not the right person for this."

"Too late for that now," Finn pulled a fluffy blue caterpillar toy from one of the bags and held it out to the child.

The boy's eyes lit up, and he dropped his roll to reach for it with both hands. Finn put it in his arms, and he snuggled happily with it, rubbing his cheek against it. Ronin laughed fondly and brushed back the boy's matted hair.

"He still needs a haircut," Finn pointed out.

"I know," Ronin nodded, "but today has been rough enough. Maybe tomorrow we can try it."

Finn snorted, "he's already got you wrapped around his little finger."

Ronin gave him an un-amused look.

"Anything else you can think of that I should know for the next few days?" Finn asked, poking through another bag.

"No, everything else should be business as usual," Ronin picked up the roll and set it on the coffee table, "keep me posted if anything comes up. Glory wants to see the kid again day after tomorrow, and hopefully, I'll be back after that, at least for half days, although I'm hoping full."

The boy snatched back the roll and finished eating it, then reached into his bag, fishing out a second one, stuffed caterpillar still held in one arm.

"I have to figure out how to get to the market too," Ronin absently smoothed the boy's hair out of his face, "Glory has a whole list of things she wants him eating."

"Give it to me," Finn waved his hand dismissively, "I'll send a courier to do it. It looks like mom gave you plenty of clothes and bedding. I'll make sure I get a couple sippy cups tonight and ask if mom thinks you need anything else."

"I can't get him to wear shoes," Ronin said, "can you ask your mother if she has any ideas?"

"Sure," Finn shrugged, "maybe she'll have something he likes."

"Thank you," Ronin stopped the child from tipping the glass of juice off of the coffee table and onto himself, holding it for him so he could drink out of it, "tell your mother I owe her."

"Why is it that you owe her and not me?" Finn teased, standing up and stretching.

"I always owe you," Ronin snorted, "it doesn't even seem worth mentioning anymore."

Finn gave him a crooked grin, "good luck with your wild child."

"Thanks," Ronin said dryly, looking down at the boy sprawled across his lap.

Finn shut the door behind him, and Ronin stared down at the boy for a moment longer. The child looked back up at him sleepily, then yawned hugely and reached into his bag, pulling out an acorn dumpling and popping it in his mouth.

"How about an actual meal?" Ronin suggest, "something that isn't made of sugar and leftovers."

The boy blinked at him, watching him curiously, then chirped and snuggled down with his caterpillar, putting his thumb in his mouth and drifting back to sleep.

Ronin sat still for a few minutes, making sure the child was actually sleeping, then lifted him up and put him back in his nest and went to go make lunch.

* * *

><p>Ronin was a little surprised to hear a knock on the door after dinner. A courier had stopped by with groceries mid-afternoon, and Ronin would have expected Finn to be over later, if he made it over at all.<p>

The boy had been sitting on his foot and leaning against his leg while he did dishes, whistling like a chickadee and making his blue caterpillar crawl up and down the cupboard face. At the sound of the door, he scrambled up and ran to the couch, wiggling under it. The child had become quite attached to his nest, and every time he was startled, he went running for it.

When Ronin opened the door, Finn's mother was standing there.

"Hello Nora," Ronin greeted her, "come in."

"I hear you have a little guest," Nora smiled as she stepped inside.

"He made a break for his nest when he heard the door," Ronin glanced in the direction of the couch, and he could just see the blue caterpillar wiggling under it, "thank you for everything you sent over. It's really been a help."

"It's no problem. We weren't using it right now anyway," Nora quirked a smile at the caterpillar and moved towards the couch, "I left Finn to help his dad with the little ones and brought you sippy cups and booties."

She pulled a pair of green crocheted boots out of her bag. They had rows of leaf like ruffles around the ankle and three shiny buttons down the side. Nora set them on the ground in front of the couch, and a little hand shot out and snatched them, drawing them under it.

"Well, he likes them at least," Nora laughed and handed Ronin the bag, "sippy cups, another pair of pajamas, and a few more toys and picture books. You should be set for a while."

"Thank you for all of this," Ronin grinned as the blue caterpillar peeked out again, "I should be able to get down to the market in a couple days and get him his own things, then I can get all this back to you."

"He can keep it; we have plenty," Nora waved her hand dismissively.

"Can I give you anything for it?" Ronin asked, nudging the caterpillar with his toe.

There was a muffled giggle, and the caterpillar disappeared under the couch.

"Just keep bringing Finn home safely," Nora smiled, "and let me know if you need anything else."

"I will," Ronin nodded.

There was motion behind the couch, and they looked over to see the boy peering over the back of it. When he realized he had been spotted, he ducked back down.

Nora laughed, "when he's feeling a little more social let me know. I'll bring Eben or the triplets over to play, or he can come over and visit us. Also, he needs a haircut."

"I know," Ronin shook his head, "I think that will be an adventure for tomorrow."

After Nora left, the boy came out from under the couch, holding up the booties for Ronin to see. He had put them on his hands like mittens and seemed quite pleased with himself.

"How about we try those on your feet?" Ronin reached for the slippers.

The boy hugged them to his chest and scrambled back to his nest.

"Maybe after bath time then," Ronin shook his head and went back to washing dishes.

* * *

><p>Ronin managed to convince the child to return his blankets by trading him for the futon mattress and fluffy down quilts that Nora had sent over. They would make a more comfortable bed for the boy, and Ronin wouldn't have to sleep on the couch again.<p>

After rearranging his nest to his satisfaction, the boy put his new stuffed animals in and sat in the middle playing with them. He had insisted on wearing his jacket with the buckles over his pajamas after bath time, and Ronin hadn't been able to convince him to wear the booties on his feet. He was mostly wearing them on his hands and occasionally took them off to use as a hat for the stuffed frog and bee that were now sharing the nest with him and the blue caterpillar.

Ronin sprawled on the couch and read the harvest reports he had to review out loud, hoping the boy would find them as boring as he did and fall asleep. It was nearly half an hour before Ronin realized he wasn't hearing the little chirps and coos that had accompanied the boy's play. He glanced over the back of the couch and saw him snuggled with his stuffed animals, thumb in his mouth.

Finn was right; he was cute when he was asleep.

Ronin covered him with his blanket and watched him sleep for a moment, then decided it was time to call it a night himself. Hopefully, tomorrow would be a calmer day for both of them.

* * *

><p>Ronin was a light sleeper; he always had been. So it was no surprise that the patter of little feet woke him. He opened his eyes to find the boy peering cautiously over the edge of his bed.<p>

"Everything alright chickadee?" he asked, reaching out to nudge the sedum on his night stand, setting it to glowing.

The boy blinked and poked at the plant cautiously, making it flare brighter briefly. He jumped, clutching his caterpillar to himself. Ronin noticed he still had a bootie on one hand and the other tucked in his arm along with the toy. The child poked the plant again, this time harder, making all the stems glow brightly. He whistled excitedly and pointed to it, clearly impressed.

"I guess there aren't any sedums in the forest, especially not luminescent ones," Ronin chuckled.

The boy turned back to him, staring at him over the edge of the bed.

"What?" Ronin propped himself up on an elbow.

The child continued to stare a moment longer, then seemed to make up his mind. He scrambled up onto the bed, nearly tripping over the strap of his sack. Ronin caught him and pulled him up to sit beside him.

"Do you want to bunk with me tonight kiddo?" Ronin asked.

The boy looked around the room, then up at Ronin. He chirped, then yawned hugely.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ronin smiled down at him, stroking back his hair, "how about we take the sack off and set it next to you? Does that sound more comfortable?"

Ronin slid the strap over the boy's head, and the child made a whining sound, reaching for it, but before he could get too upset, Ronin set the bag next to the pillow. The child looked up at him uncertainly.

"I'll leave it right there, and you can get it when you wake up," Ronin reassured him.

The boy hesitated, then seemed to decide that was acceptable. He started digging in the blankets as if he were trying to burrow into them.

"Let's try this instead," Ronin lifted him up so he could pull back the blankets, then set him back down and pulled them over him.

The child wiggled his toes under the covers, then leaned over to poke at the sedum, which had started to dim. The vibration caused it to brighten, and the boy smiled happily and wiggled down under the blankets, laying on his side so he could look at it.

"Sleep well chickadee," Ronin smiled and laid back down.

Just as he was falling back to sleep the boy rolled over, snuggling against his side. Ronin cracked open an eye and grinned at the top of the child's head, draping an arm around the little body. The boy started to snore softly, and Ronin pressed a kiss to his hair before falling back to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Well, you survived at least," Finn said when Ronin opened the door.<p>

"Yes," Ronin nodded, "and we have learned that acorn mash is hard to get out of hair, cranberry juice stains, and slippers, apparently, go on our hands and not our feet."

Finn snickered, "all good things to know. Mom sent over a booster seat. She thought it might be helpful."

"He doesn't really sit still long enough for that, but maybe he'll use it," Ronin took it, setting it on the table, "tell your mother thank you."

Finn nodded, "where is he anyway?"

"Either behind the couch or under it," Ronin motioned in the direction of the living room.

"Behind it," Finn grinned, setting his sword on the weapon's rack.

The boy was peeking over the edge. He giggled when he realized Finn had seen him and ducked back down.

"He must remember you," Ronin quipped, "he growled at the last messenger that came to the door."

"He's doing a good job guarding his nest," Finn came into the living room and leaned over the back of the couch.

The child giggled again and wiggled under the couch, reaching a hand back out to snag a stuffed bumble bee and pull it under with him.

"You want to try giving him a hair cut?" Finn asked, "he seems to be in a better mood than yesterday."

"I don't know," Ronin tickled at a bare foot with his toe, and it was pulled under the couch with a squeal, "he's pretty squirmy."

"It can't be comfortable having all those mats," Finn pointed out, "if you distract him, I can cut it."

Ronin gave him a doubtful look.

"Acorn mash comes out of mat free hair much more easily," Finn reached down to wiggle the caterpillar tail sticking out from under the couch.

It was quickly snatched back.

"Fine," Ronin relented, "just don't cut him."

"Nope," Finn grinned, "I'll be carefully. Do you have a pair of scissors?"

"In the bathroom," Ronin nodded, "you get those; I'll try to get him out from under the couch."

By the time Finn came back, Ronin was sitting on the living room floor with the boy on his lap. The child was facing him, chirping and whistling as if he were trying to tell Ronin a story and illustrate it with his stuffed caterpillar, which was crawling up Ronin's shoulder. He was wearing a green bootie on one hand, and Finn snickered.

The child jumped and pressed close to Ronin, looking up at Finn uncertainly.

"Remember me?" Finn crouched down in front of them.

The boy peered up at him, caterpillar hugged to his chest. Then he smiled shyly and pointed to the buckle on Finn's armor.

"Yep," Finn grinned, "you remember me. Ronin do you have any sweets?"

"I think he's put everything I have in his bag at this point," Ronin shook his head.

"I think…" Finn dug into the pouch on his belt, then immerged with a sucker, "birch sucker."

He held it out to the boy, who took it cautiously and sniffed at it, then tried to lick the wax paper wrapper. He made a face and Ronin chuckled, taking it from him and unwrapping it. He gave it back to the child, who tried licking it again, then tried to bite it. It didn't work quite as he expected, and he gave the hard candy a confused look.

"Try licking it buddy," Ronin took a quick lick to show him.

The boy imitated him, then grinned and did it again.

"Try and keep him distracted," Finn settled on his knees and reached up to ruffle the boy's tangled hair.

The boy twisted to give him a suspicious look.

"I'm just going to do that," Finn did it again, then tweaked the child's nose, making him giggle, "you just worry about your candy."

Ronin picked up the caterpillar, brushing it against the boy's cheek. The child turned back to him, sticking the sucker in his mouth so he could grab the toy with his un-covered hand. Realizing he needed both hands, he held the one with the bootie out to Ronin expectantly. Ronin pulled it off and set it on the ground beside them.

"That would work much better on your feet," Ronin told him.

The boy pulled the sucker out of his mouth and whistled, then offered it to Ronin. Ronin popped it in his mouth quickly, then out, and the boy smiled happily and went back to sucking on it.

"He must really like you if he's sharing his sweets," Finn continued to fiddle with the boy's tangled hair.

While Ronin distracted the boy with toys and sharing his candy, Finn took his time picking through the mats. For a while the child looked back at him every time he felt him touch it, but eventually, he got used to it and stopped turning away from Ronin, instead returning to his game of making the caterpillar crawl all over the general.

"I'm going to have to cut it as short as yours," Finn said, finally picking up the scissors.

"I don't think he'll care," Ronin leaned forward to nuzzle his nose against the boy's making him laugh and grab Ronin's face with sticky hands.

Finn smirked and started cutting. He worked quickly, pausing whenever the boy moved to reach for something new. He got all the mats and tangles off, then had to stop because the child realized he had done something and turned to look at him. He saw the hair on the floor and frowned at it, reaching up to touch his head. He rubbed his hands over it, then brought his other hand up to rub both hands over the much shortened hair. He didn't seem able to decide what he thought of the change.

"If you can get his attention for a few more minutes, I can trim it even," Finn tickled the boy's tummy, and he giggled and squirmed, pressing into Ronin.

Ronin slid a hand into the boy's bag while he wasn't looking and pulled out a honey sunflower seed cracker. He offered it to the boy, who took it eagerly and crunched into it.

"Watch his ears," Ronin cautioned.

"I haven't cut off any of my brothers or sisters' ears yet," Finn gave him an amused look.

It didn't take Finn long to get the hair cut even. It ended up just as short as Ronin's, and Finn ruffled his hand through it, shaking out all the loose hairs.

"All done," Finn smiled when the boy looked back at him, "should be easier to wash anyway."

"Thank you," Ronin set the boy on his feet and got up.

The child crouched down and poked curiously at the piles of hair, then reached up to rub his short hair again.

"You're welcome," Finn chuckled, "it's good it's going to be easier to wash, since he's rubbing his sticky fingers in it."

"Yeah," Ronin picked the boy up, "let's get those cleaned up."

Ronin carried him to the bathroom to wash his hands and face, sitting him on the counter. The boy twisted and saw his own reflection in the mirror. He stared at it for a moment, then pointed excitedly, tugging on Ronin's sleeve.

Ronin knew he recognized his own reflection. He had made faces at himself and giggled like mad for nearly fifteen minutes the night before.

"Yep, that's you," Ronin steadied him before he could fall off the counter.

The boy chirped and hopped up to stand on the counter before Ronin could stop him. He pointed excitedly to Ronin's reflection, then to his own.

"And that's the two of us," Ronin sat him back down and picked up a wash cloth.

The boy whistled and reached up to rub Ronin's hair, then rubbed his own, a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah," Ronin laughed, catching the boy's hands to wipe them off, "they do look the same, don't they."

The child squirmed free of him, reaching up to rub Ronin's hair again. Ronin grinned and rubbed the child's head in return, then wiped his face clean.

"He likes being a mini you," Finn laughed from the doorway.

"I don't know if it's going to stay that short with all his squirming," Ronin tossed the wash cloth in the sink and lifted the boy off the counter, setting him on his feet.

As soon as he was on his feet, the child tugged on Ronin's shirt, demanding to be picked up. Ronin complied, holding the boy on his hip, and the child resumed running his hand over first Ronin's hair, then his own, cooing and chirping happily.

"I'm going to get you two matching outfits," Finn slumped with laughter against the doorframe.

"Finn," Ronin rolled his eyes.

The child whistled and kicked his feet, snuggling against Ronin's shoulder.

"Well, at least he's happy," Ronin kissed the top of the boy's head.

"Being a mini you makes him happy," Finn smirked.

"Don't you have my army to go run?" Ronin grumbled.

"Sadly, yes," Finn straightened, "I'll drop by tomorrow to see how you and your mini-self are doing."

"Good night Finn," Ronin said dryly.

The boy whistled cheerfully and waved as Finn went out the door.

"I do not need a mini-me," Ronin muttered, kissing the child on the cheek and setting him down.

The boy ran back to where he had left his caterpillar and picked it up, then raced back to Ronin, holding his arms up again.

"I was trying to do dishes," Ronin looked down at the boy.

The child continued to hold his arms up.

Ronin stared down at him for a moment longer, then relented, scooping him back up, "alright. Let's go see what books are in your toy bag. Maybe a story will put you to sleep."

Ronin sat down on the couch with the child in his lap, and the boy wiggled and squirmed until he was comfortable, then settled down to look at the pictures of the book Ronin had grabbed, occasionally reaching up to run his hand over Ronin's hair again and then his own.

Ronin decided he could live with a mini him for a while, as long as he could keep him from rubbing sticky things in his hair.

* * *

><p>AN: Little Nod is happy to show off the toys Nora gave him over at little-nod dot tumblr dot com.<p> 


	5. Ch 5: The Nanny

Ronin was unexpectedly apprehensive.

Glory had been pleased with the boy's progress at his check up and thought he would do alright if Ronin went back on duty for half days. Ronin thought she might have been lulled into a false sense of security by not getting bitten this time. It certainly hadn't been for lack of trying on the child's part. The boy had sulked in his nest all afternoon after the check up and not come out until Ronin had offered him honey brittle. The child simply did not like strangers.

Still, Glory had said she would send over one of her caregivers who specialized in children to watch the boy. That would be better than Ronin fumbling through everything.

Ronin was in uniform and ready to go by the time the knock came. The child was still sound asleep in Ronin's bed. Over the last few days it had become apparent that the boy was not a morning person. Ronin had been up before him all three days, and it had been another hour or two before the child had wandered out.

There was a flower jinn at the door in a tidy orange petal skirt.

"General Ronin," the woman greeted, "I'm Poppy. Glory sent me over to watch the child."

"Thank you for coming," Ronin let her in, "did Glory tell you about him?"

"This is the child you found wild in the forest," Poppy nodded, "he has low social and communication skills and is prone to fits."

"Right," for some reason Ronin didn't feel reassured; it seems like a very formal way to talk about a boy who was currently using his booties as mittens.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Poppy asked.

"He likes honey brittle, he's scared of strangers, and he has a nest he likes to hide in behind the couch," Ronin said.

"A nest?" Poppy raised an eyebrow.

"Made of blankets," Ronin nodded, "and he doesn't like shoes. I wouldn't even try."

"I'm sure it will be fine general," Poppy smoothed down her skirt.

She had to know what she was doing, or Glory wouldn't have sent her, but Ronin still hesitated.

"He's asleep in my room still," Ronin said, "he probably won't be up for another hour or two, but he likes acorn mash with honey. He's not very good at using a spoon though."

"I'm sure I'll manage," Poppy's lips just barely quirked up at the corners.

"Right, of course," Ronin debated going to wake the boy and tell him he was leaving, but he wouldn't understand, and he would probably just start screaming when he saw Ronin go. It would be better to just leave, "I'll be home around noon."

"We'll see you then general," Poppy saw him to the door, shutting it behind him after he left.

Ronin stood in the hallway for a moment, feeling odd not having a little body clinging to his leg. It was strange how quickly he had gotten used to the boy being there.

He shook himself and headed down the hallway. If he hurried he might actually be on time to the captains meeting.

* * *

><p>Just as the general said, the boy slept for another hour. Poppy checked on him as soon as the general left. He was curled up with a stuffed toy and his thumb in his mouth. He was a little old to be sucking his thumb still, but she supposed given the situation allowances had to be made.<p>

While the child slept, Poppy busied herself tiding the living room. There were toys in piles and clothes dumped haphazardly on top of bags. It must have been a shock to the general to suddenly have a child thrust on him, and keeping things tidy would hardly have been a priority.

Really, it seemed like having someone else look after the child would have made much more sense.

Poppy heard a shuffling from the hall and looked up. The boy was awake, rubbing his eyes and carrying his stuffed toy as he came down the hallway. He spotted her and froze.

"Hello, I'm…" Poppy started.

The child screamed and ran back down the hall, slamming the bedroom door.

Poppy blinked. The general has said the child was afraid of strangers, but she hadn't expected that. She headed down the hall, hoping he hadn't locked the door. She was relieved to find it opened, but the boy was nowhere in sight.

She poked around the room, opening the wardrobe and moving aside the clothes and checking behind the curtains, but when he wasn't there, that only left one place. She knelt down and looked under the bed.

The boy was there, pressed back into the far corner, stuffed toy hugged to his chest. When he saw Poppy looking under the bed, he growled at her like a fox and shrunk back farther. Poppy wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Glory had said he was wild, but she hadn't expected him to act like an animal.

"Come out," she tried to coax, "we'll go have breakfast."

The boy continued to growl.

"You can't stay there," Poppy reasoned, "you need to eat breakfast."

The child barked, startling her. No one had said he barked.

Poppy considered her options. Glory had been clear that the boy needed to eat. He would make a mess if she gave him food under the bed though. It looked as if she could reach his ankle. She would just have to pull him out. He would calm down once he had food.

She laid on her stomach and reached for him, but the boy saw her coming and tried to scramble to the other side of the bed. She managed to snag his ankle, but didn't get the chance to pull. The child rounded on her and sunk his teeth into her hand.

Poppy yelped and jerked back, almost hitting her head on the bed frame. The boy's teeth were sharp, and he had bitten hard, breaking the skin. Poppy sat back, shaking her hand out. She would need to clean it.

The boy didn't seem to be going anywhere, so Poppy left him under the bed and went to wash and wrap her hand.

As she was drying her hand, she heard the soft patter of little feet, but she was too slow to catch the boy as he raced down the hall. All she saw was the bottom of a bare foot as he squirmed his way under the couch.

At least he was out from under the bed.

* * *

><p>"Ronin?"<p>

"What?" Ronin blinked and turned to look at Finn.

"You alright?" Finn asked.

"Of course," Ronin gave him a puzzled look.

"You seem a little distracted," Finn looked far too amused.

"What?" Ronin frowned at him.

"You just signed the inventory records instead of the acquisitions request," Finn snickered.

Ronin looked down at the papers in front of him. Finn was right. Ronin snatched up the request form somewhat more briskly than necessary.

"I'm just a little worried. He doesn't take well to strangers," Ronin signed the form and handed it to Finn.

"Did he like the caregiver when she showed up?" Finn asked.

"I don't know," Ronin shrugged, "he was still asleep when I left."

"Hmm," Finn made a noncommittal sound, "well, you'll find out when you get home."

* * *

><p>The boy refused to come out from under the couch. He snapped and barked at her every time she looked under it. Poppy wasn't eager to get bitten again. Maybe she could coax the boy out with some of his toys.<p>

The bag she had seen toys in didn't have many. It was mostly picture books and a bag of wooden building blocks. The books probably wouldn't be interesting to him, but maybe the blocks would work.

"I have your toys," she tried shaking the bag, "do you want to come play with them?"

There was no response from under the couch. She lowered the bag down so the boy could see it. A small hand shot out far quicker than she expected, snatching it from her and pulling them under the couch.

"Hold on, that's not…" she ducked down to try to see him.

All she could see was his bare feet, which meant he was actually crouched behind the couch, not under it. She stood up to see if she could see him, but before she could look, a wooden block flew by her head, just missing her and hitting the bookshelf on the other wall, knocking over a few books.

"We do not throw things," Poppy huffed.

A second block sailed over the back of the couch, and she had to duck.

"Stop that," Poppy tried to get closer.

The third block hit her in the head.

"Ouch!"

* * *

><p>"Maybe you should call it a day early, Ronin," Finn said.<p>

"What? Why?" Ronin demanded.

He had days of paperwork to catch up on and stacks of reports to read through, and any day now, Orion was going to be giving him the unit placements for the latest round of recruits coming out of basic training. If he didn't get through everything on his desk before that, he was going to be swamped.

"You just gave Jala permission to transfer Private Arthur over to Terrance," Finn gave him an unimpressed look.

"No I didn't," Ronin protested; he didn't even remember Jala coming by, "Terrance already had Private Arthur in his unit. He doesn't want him back."

"I told her you were joking," Finn said mildly.

Ronin stared at him for a moment, then dropped his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Maybe Jala had come by.

"Tell her to transfer him to Dag," Ronin said without lifting his head.

"You want Private Arthur on security detail for Moonhaven?" Finn raised an eyebrow.

"He can guard a door without destroying something," Ronin insisted.

"Aren't you optimistic," Finn snorted.

The boy seemed to have run out of blocks, but the living room was in shambles, and Poppy was sporting more than a few bruises. She could hear him sniffling behind the couch. Maybe he had tired himself out finally.

Poppy cautiously approached the couched, peering over it, only to be met with a pillow in the face. She lost her balance and landed on her backside on the ground. The child began to wail.

This was not working out.

Ronin could hear the screaming all the way down the hall. He winced and picked up his pace. He knew the boy had a tendency to cry, but he sounded so distraught.

Ronin barely had the door open before his leg was plowed into by a sobbing, wailing bundle. Ronin scooped the child up, holding him tightly to his chest.

"It's okay," Ronin cooed, "I'm here, everything's alright."

The child's face was red from crying, and he was still in his pajamas. He sobbed loudly and buried his face against Ronin's shoulder, clinging to him with all his strength. He was shaking with the force of his sobs.

Ronin rocked him and rubbed his back, looking around for Poppy.

She looked considerably worse for wear. Her skirt was torn, and her hand was wrapped in a cloth. There were bruises starting to form on her arms, and her hair was somewhat less neat than it had been that morning.

His living room looked even worse. There were blocks everywhere and half the contents of his bookcases were scattered across the floor. The coffee table was on the other side of the room and the couch was crooked.

"What happened?" Ronin asked, somewhat mystified by the state of both the room and the caregiver.

"I don't think this is going to work out general," Poppy said tightly, "I'm not the right person for this job. I won't be back tomorrow."

She walked briskly by them and out the door. The child wailed when she passed too close, tightening his hold on Ronin.

"Wait… what…?" Ronin tried.

She closed the door firmly behind her.

Ronin was left standing in the middle of his destroyed living room with the wailing child.

* * *

><p>The boy screamed every time Ronin tried to put him down, and Ronin had to maneuver filling his sippy cup with juice one handed. It was lunch time, and the boy was probably hungry, but Ronin couldn't cook anything with the child clinging to him, so food would have to wait until he had calmed down.<p>

Ronin brushed the blocks off the chair in the living room and sat down with the boy cradled in his lap and bundled up in a soft blanket. The child reached for the sippy cup eagerly and tipped it back to drink.

"Crying is thirsty work, huh buddy?" Ronin stroked the boy's hair, "what am I going to do with you? I have to be able to go to work."

The boy looked up at Ronin and continued to suck on his sippy cup.

"Well, I'm not going in tomorrow anyway," Ronin grumbled, then looked down at the child in his lap "we need to get you to stop biting people."

Ronin had no doubt that that was why Poppy's hand had been wrapped.

The boy paused in his drinking to yawn hugely, then went right back to it.

"No ideas on that one, huh?" Ronin rocked the boy slowly.

The child's eyes drooped tiredly, and he nestled his head against Ronin's arm. Just as he was starting to drop off, he ran out of juice. He blinked awake in confusion and tried to suck out the last few drops, but when that proved fruitless, he held the cup out to Ronin.

"Let's try ginger tea this time," Ronin scooped him up and headed to the kitchen.

Ginger was on the list of things Glory wanted the boy eating in the hopes of it strengthening him against sickness. After the morning he had had, he probably could use it. He didn't like it as much as blackberry juice, but he would drink it if Ronin sweetened it with honey.

While the tea brewed, Ronin washed the child's face with a dish rag and pulled a bag of dried fruit out of the cupboard for him to snack on. The boy shoved the diced fruit into his mouth by the handful, occasionally sneaking handfuls into his sack. Ronin was going to have to figure out what he had stashed in there soon. It wouldn't be good for the boy to eat something that had gone bad.

Not right now though. Right now Ronin just wanted to get the tired child down for a nap so he could send a message off to Finn and let him know he wouldn't be in tomorrow.

Ronin mixed honey into the tea and cooled it down by adding cold water, then gave the sippy cup back to the boy. The child abandoned the dried fruit to go back to sucking on his cup, and Ronin managed to put the bag away before it could disappear into the boy's sack, then carried the sleepy child back to the chair.

This time the boy fell asleep before he emptied his cup, and Ronin had to catch it as it slid from his slack fingers. Ronin tried to lay him in his nest, but as soon as he put him down, he started to whimper and reach for Ronin restlessly.

Ronin picked him back up and sat on the couch rocking him until he settled then tried to lay him down again with the same results. After the third attempt, Ronin gave up and took the boy with him to his study, holding him on his lap while he wrote the message to Finn somewhat awkwardly with one hand.

Finn would probably give him a hard time about his handwriting. If he was lucky, that was all Finn would give him a hard time about.


	6. Ch 6: Take Two

The boy was in a better mood when he woke a few hours later, though he continued to follow on Ronin's heels everywhere he went. Ronin boiled cattail tubers for him for lunch and sat him in the middle of the living room floor to eat with his fingers while Ronin tried to get the room back in some kind of order.

The child watched everything Ronin did, and when he had finished eating, he got up and started trotting around the room, picking up blocks and putting them in the bag in imitation of Ronin. He picked up books as well, and took great care to set them on the shelf, even taking the time to stare at the shelf as if he were trying to find where the book went, just like Ronin had been doing. He had apparently decided that they should be shelved by the color of the covers, and occasionally pulled down a book Ronin put away to put it with books of the same color.

Ronin was just putting away the last block when there was a knock at the door. Instead of running for his nest, the boy flung himself at Ronin's leg with a whimper. Ronin looked down at him in surprise, then picked him up and carried him to the door. He buried his face against Ronin's shoulder and wrapped his arms and legs around him tightly.

There was a messenger at the door. He jumped slightly at seeing the child in Ronin's arms, and Ronin gave him an unimpressed look.

"From Captain Finn sir," the messenger held out a folded sheet of paper.

Ronin thanked him and took the paper. The child refused to be put down even after the door was closed, so Ronin sat back down in the chair with the boy in his lap again.

Apparently, Finn had asked his mother about nannies. Ronin had to wonder how indebted he was going to be to Nora before they got the boy where he belonged. She had recommended a jinn named Orla. Orla had helped her after her twins had been born and again after the triplets, and she had been very pleased with the way she had worked with the younger children. Finn had included her contact information.

Ronin let the boy take the paper from him once he was finished reading. The child sniffed at it, then folded it, then folded it again, then unfolded it, then licked it and made a face.

"No, paper and ink don't taste very good," Ronin gave him an amused look.

The boy chirped and shoved the paper in his bag.

Ronin looked down at him for a moment, considering his options. He really did need to get back to work. They would just have to give this other nanny a try.

* * *

><p>The boy made a whining noise and dropped his caterpillar to latch onto Ronin when the knock on the door came. Ronin had been expecting it though. Orla had agreed right away to watch the child tomorrow, which was a relief to Ronin, but she had asked to meet him tonight while Ronin was there.<p>

Ronin picked up both caterpillar and boy and went to answer the door.

"It's nice to meet you General Ronin," the daisy jinn greeted him when he opened the door.

"Thank you for coming, especially on such short notice" Ronin let her in.

"Of course," Orla smiled softly, "I'm not working right now, and I'm happy to help. This is the little boy you found in the woods?"

"This is him," Ronin patted the whimpering child's back, "he's pretty cranky right now. He didn't have a very good morning."

"It must be frightening having everything change so quickly and being around so many strangers," Orla tilted her head to the side, trying to get a look at the child's face, but he kept it pressed against Ronin's shoulder, "what's his name?"

"We don't know yet," Ronin lead Orla to the living room, "Nim is trying to find his family in the scrolls, but he hasn't had any luck so far."

Just that morning, he had received a message from Nim saying that he still hadn't found anything. He was searching records based on the time frame Glory had estimated, and he wasn't having any luck. He was considering going through the very tedious and difficult process of trying to track the boy back through the scrolls from the moment Ronin had caught him. Nim thought it would be a daunting task as he could already tell the child had been very mobile, making him hard to track.

Orla sat on the couch, discretely pulling a block out from under her and setting it aside while Ronin sat in his chair. He tried to sit the boy facing her on his lap, but the child whined and clung to Ronin's neck, so he let him sit with his face hidden against his chest.

"I hope Nim is able to find them soon," Orla said sympathetically, "I haven't really heard much about the boy. What should I know?"

"Oh, um…" Ronin rubbed the boy's back, not really sure where to start, "so far he hasn't shown any sign of talking, and his understanding of what we say seems very limited. He imitates all sorts of animals though, mostly birds, although he does a fair impression of a fox when he's angry or scared. He bites and sometimes he tries to hit or scratch when he's frightened, and he gets frightened really easily. I'm not sure how to get him to stop."

"Being frightened or biting?" Orla asked.

"Both," Ronin snorted softly, "but mostly biting."

"He probably just needs a little more time to settled," Orla smiled when the boy peered out at her, and he quickly hid his face again, "what's his daily routine like?"

"He doesn't really have one. I've only had him a few days," Ronin explained, "I've been letting him sleep as late as he wants, then breakfast, I guess, and after breakfast, he usually climbs all over me while I'm trying to work, and I don't get anything done."

Ronin poked at a ticklish spot, and the boy squirmed away from his hand and giggled softly, but refused to lift his head.

"Then, it's usually lunch, and I'll be home by then," Ronin chuckled.

"Does he have any foods he particularly likes?" Orla asked.

"He eats everything so far," Ronin said, "he really likes sweets though. I've got a whole list of things the healers want him to eat."

Orla had another dozen questions for Ronin before she left, and by the time they finished the boy had finally turned on Ronin's lap to face her, thumb in his mouth and hand still fisted in Ronin's shirt. He watched her suspiciously the whole time and hid his face against Ronin's shirt every time she made eye contact with him.

After Ronin had seen her to the door, he looked down at the boy in his arms, "you're going to scream all morning for her, aren't you?"

The boy gave him a dour look and pointed to his sippy cup sitting on the table.

"Right," Ronin sighed and picked up the cup, "more juice."

* * *

><p>Ronin was more apprehensive than he had been the morning before. Orla seemed like a calm and sensible jinn, but he had no reason to think things would go any better today than they had yesterday.<p>

The child was still sound asleep when Orla got there. She was a little earlier than Ronin expected, and he was still putting his armor on.

"He fell asleep early last night," Ronin told her as he adjusted the final buckle on his armor, "I'm not sure if that means he'll be up earlier than usual."

"Well, we'll have breakfast whenever he decides to get up," Orla set the bag she had brought down on the table.

"I'll be home by lunch time," Ronin buckled his sword on, "just send me a message if you need anything."

"I will," Orla nodded, "you should let him know you're leaving."

Ronin froze almost to the door, "if he sees me leaving, he's just going to start crying."

"I think he's going to cry no matter what general," Orla pointed out, "at least he'll know you left, and he won't wake up with you gone and a stranger here."

Ronin was not an expert in many things, and he was used to relying on the advice of those who were. Orla seemed to be competent, and he suspected she was right. No matter what he did, the boy was going to be upset. Maybe this would help him be slightly less upset.

Ronin went back into the bedroom and leaned over the bed, stroking the boy's hair.

"Chickadee," he murmured softly, "I have to go to work."

The boy stretched his arms and legs as far as he could and yawned, blinking up at him drowsily.

"I'll be home for lunch, alright?" Ronin continued to stroke his hair.

The child gave a sleepy chirp and reached up to trace his fingers over Ronin's armor buckles. Out in the living room, a chair slid across the floor, and the boy's eyes went wide. He gave a frightened whine and bolted up, locking his arms around Ronin's neck. Ronin winced.

"Well, you're up," Ronin lifted the child up, holding him against his chest, "let's go see Orla."

Orla was in the kitchen filling a sippy cup with juice. The boy saw her and started to whimper, hiding his face against Ronin's shoulder.

"Well, maybe we'll have an early breakfast," Orla put the lid on the cup, "you should get going general. We'll be here when you get home for lunch."

"Alright…" Ronin crouched down, setting the child on his feet and gently pulling his arms free of his neck.

The boy gave a high pitched whine and tried to grab onto him again. When Ronin didn't let him, he screamed. Orla slid to her knees beside the child and put a hand lightly on his back.

"It's alright sweet pea," she coxed, "Ronin will come back."

The child shrank away from her, whimpering, and looked up at Ronin, holding his arms out to be picked up. Ronin almost changed his mind about leaving.

"Go on general," Orla said calmly, "the longer you stay, the harder it will be to leave."

Ronin nodded and pressed a quick kiss to the boy's hair, "I'll be home for lunch chickadee, I promise."

Before the child could latch onto him, Ronin was on his feet and out the door. As the door closed, he heard the child start to wail and flinched, almost turning back around. He needed to get some work done though, and the boy had to get used to him not being there all the time, otherwise this wasn't going to work out even temporarily.

Ronin squared his shoulders and headed down the hall.

* * *

><p>Orla had had to catch the back of the jacket the boy was wearing over his pajamas to stop him from running after Ronin, but as soon as the door shut, she let him go. The child wailed and ran to the door, trying to pull it open. Orla followed him, reaching over top of him to turn the top latch so he wouldn't be able to get out.<p>

The boy looked up at her fearfully, then bolted in the other directing, scrambling under the couch. Orla watched for a few moments to see if he would come back out, and when he didn't, she went into the kitchen to get his sippy cup and stopped by the bedroom to pick up the stuffed caterpillar he had dropped.

She could hear him crying under the couch. She pulled a package of fruit scones out of her bag and set them on a plate and tucked a book under her arm, then returned to the couch. The sobs became muffled as she approached, as if he was trying to be quiet so she wouldn't find him.

Orla slid the coffee table out of the way and sat on the floor, leaning back against the couch. She set the caterpillar on the ground and wasn't at all surprised when it disappeared underneath the couch. Next the sippy cup went down and that went away as well. The sobbing was reduced to sniffles, and she could hear him sucking on it.

She put down the plate of scones just far enough for him to have to reach for and took one for herself. As she ate, she watched a little hand hesitantly slip out and snatch a scone. There was the sound of chewing and a moment later, the hand was back for a second one.

Orla smiled and finished her scone, then opened her book and started to read out loud.

"Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack…"

* * *

><p>"Is everything alright general?" the queen asked, "you seem distracted."<p>

"Everything's fine," Ronin reassured her.

It was the first time he had made it to a morning briefing with the queen in a week. There was a lot to discuss. Winter was almost on them, and they needed to finalize plans for the last harvest push before the snows started. There were also some security concerns they needed to address. Boggans tended to be active in the fall, and they seemed to be making their final push to cause trouble before they went and did whatever boggans did in the winter.

Ronin wondered if the boy had stopped screaming yet.

"Really?" Tara looked amused.

"The last nanny didn't work out," Ronin admitted.

"I heard," the queen barely managed to suppress her smile.

"What did she say?" Ronin demanded, "he's just a kid. He didn't do anything wrong; he was just scared."

Tara laughed, "of course he didn't do anything wrong."

Ronin straightened his armor self-consciously, "well, what did she say?"

"That she was bested by a six year old," Tara smirked.

"That's true," Ronin snickered, then managed to compose himself.

They had work to do after all.

* * *

><p>"In the winter, Jack and his younger sister loved to play outdoors. They would catch snowflakes and skate on the pond together…"<p>

The sippy cup appeared on the floor next to Orla. She paused her reading to pick it up. It was empty, much like the plate of scones. She couldn't be sure if the child had eaten all of them or put them in his sack. He had eaten some of them at least, and if they were in his sack, he would eat them eventually.

This time she filled the cup with sweetened cranberry juice. It disappeared back under the couch.

Orla opened her book again, "on winter evenings, Jack and his sister would sit near the fire with their mother and father and listen to their parents tell them stories. Jack liked stories about adventure best…"

* * *

><p>Ronin's leg was plowed into again as soon as he opened the door, but at least the boy wasn't screaming.<p>

"Hey buddy," Ronin scooped him up, "how was your day?"

The boy chittered and grumbled at him angrily, then ducked his head and pressed his face sullenly against Ronin's shoulder.

"He spent the morning under the couch," Orla informed Ronin.

She looked completely unruffled, and the living room was intact.

"He had some breakfast, but I'm not sure how much of it he ate, so he might be hungry," Orla began packing away her things.

"He… didn't scream all morning?" Ronin patted the boy's back.

"He cried for a while, but he seemed to settle down once he had food," Orla slid the bag over her shoulder, "would you like me to come back at the same time tomorrow?"

Ronin looked down at the glowering boy in his arms. He wasn't screaming.

"Yes, please," Ronin nodded, "thank you."

"You're very welcome general," Orla smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>The child cried inconsolably when Ronin left the next morning, but at least Ronin didn't have to pry him off. He was angry when Ronin got home though. He sat on the ground and sulked for almost an hour, refusing to let Ronin pick him up. He ate the toast and jam Ronin put on the floor for him though, and also the mushroom and acorn fritters and the honey brittle. After the honey brittle, he was in a slightly better mood and moved from sitting on the floor to sitting on Ronin's foot with his arms and legs wrapped around Ronin's leg, forcing the general to walk everywhere with the boy attached.<p>

By the end of the week, the child wasn't exactly happy, but at least he was spending his mornings out from under the couch. Ronin decided it was time to try working a full day.

He came home to an angry blanket and an amused Orla.

"He was alright until lunch time," she told him, "when you weren't home by the end of lunch, he cried for a while, then he threw his stuffed animals at the door, and when that didn't bring you home, he sat in the middle of the floor and hid under his blanket. He pushed his sippy cup out from under it a few times for refills."

That Orla seemed amused and not worried made Ronin think it was probably okay to try again the next day, even if it did take an hour and a half to convince the child to come out from under his blanket that night. He almost scooped up the boy, blanket and all, and put him to bed still hiding under it, but the child came out for bath time, although Ronin suspected that was only because he wanted to drench Ronin as revenge for him being gone all day.

Within a week, the boy seemed to have gotten used to it, although he was sullen and cranky by the time Ronin got home. The child tolerated Orla, but the first try with Poppy seemed to have soured him to the idea of having a nanny all together. Ronin found a good part of his evenings spent walking around with the boy sitting on his foot.

Glory was unsympathetic, and Ronin was tempted to let the child bite her at his next check-up, but he really wanted him to stop biting people. It wasn't safe, and Ronin didn't imagine jinn tasted very good.

"No," Ronin told the child firmly, catching him as he tried to jump off the exam table and setting him back on his feet on it.

The boy pouted at him and made a whining noise in the back of his throat.

"No biting," Ronin shook his head.

The boy scowled at him and nodded emphatically, although it was hard to say if he was declaring his desire to bite Glory or get down.

"No," Ronin repeated, shaking his head again.

The boy glared at him for a moment, then folded his arms over his chest and plopped down on his backside, refusing to look at him. Ronin snorted softly and rumpled his hair, tweaking his nose when he tried to push his hand away.

"Ronin, he knows 'yes' and 'no'," Glory grinned.

"Sort of," Ronin shrugged, "he knows what it means to shake his head or nod, but he doesn't always understand what I'm asking him."

"That's really good though," Glory insisted, "that means he's showing some development and use of communication skills."

"He does tend to imitate gestures I make," Ronin nodded, "he knows what I mean when I say down."

Ronin gestured down with his hand, and the boy's face brightened. He hopped off the table and tried to dart past Ronin, eager to get out of the healers ward and away from Glory. Glory snickered, and Ronin shook his head, lifting the child up to hold on his hip.

"Good boy," Ronin pressed a kiss to his forehead, "we use that one a lot."

"And he does what you tell him," Glory pulled a piece of birch caramel out of her pocket and offered it to the child.

He looked at her suspiciously, but took it anyway, undoing the wax paper and sniffing it before putting it in his mouth.

"He doesn't always," Ronin took the wrapper from the boy and tossed it on the table, "a lot of times he doesn't understand, and sometimes he just doesn't want to. He does seem to do better with gestures though. Once he's well enough to be put in a more permanent home, they might try teaching him to sign. It seems like he might be able to pick that up more easily than talking."

The look Glory gave him was far too amused, and Ronin was instantly suspicious.

"He is improving," Ronin said firmly.

"Of course he is," Glory rolled her eyes, "but there's more to it than him gaining weight."

"So what else do I need to do?" Ronin frowned, bouncing the boy when he chirped impatiently; he needed to know what the child needed, otherwise he couldn't help him.

"Nothing," Glory snorted, "he just needs time, and it wouldn't hurt if you started working with him on signing if it seems like something he's going to pick up. He may be with you for a while Ronin."

"That's not a good idea," Ronin shifted the child when he started squirming, getting a better hold on him, "the longer he's with me, the more attached he'll get, and the harder the transition will be on him."

"Nim is dragging his feet figuring out who he is, and until he does, I'd rather not have him bounced from place to place." Glory said.

"That's not what I'm suggesting…"

Ronin was cut off by the child thumping his palm against Ronin's shoulder with a disgruntled whine.

"No hitting," Ronin shook his head.

The boy glared at him angrily.

"Are you done with him?" Ronin asked Glory.

"I am," Glory nodded, "keep feeding him. He's doing fine."

"Right," Ronin gave her an irritated look, "we're going. I'll bring him back next week for his check up."

"I'll send over a scroll on basic signs," Glory smirked at Ronin's back as he left.

Ronin was tempted to give her a basic sign in reply, but with his luck, that would be the one sign the boy learned and then used repeatedly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Orla is the marigold girl's mother, or she will be someday at least.


	7. Ch 7: Belling the Cat

Ronin made the mistake of mentioning to Tara that the child was still unhappy with Ronin being gone all day, and the queen started insisting that Ronin bring the boy to their evening debriefings. It wasn't very efficient, but it was probably good for the child. It meant Ronin could come home a little earlier, and that seems to make the child happy, even if it meant they had to leave as soon as they had eaten dinner.

Plus, the boy liked Tara, or at the very least, he wasn't afraid of her, and he loved being able to play in her inner chamber. There were plants for him to climb and hide in, and Ronin didn't worry about him escaping. The child's propensity for disappearing had Ronin too nervous to turn him loose outside. He had been hard enough to catch the first time. Plus, there was the whole problem of his refusal to wear shoes, especially with the weather turning cold.

"We're almost done with the lamb's quarter, and the cranberries are just about ripe and ready for harvest," Ronin informed Tara, turning in a slow circle as he spoke; he had lost track of the boy again.

"He's climbing a black-eyed susan," Tara motioned in the direction of the plants with a smile.

"I still can't figure out how he keeps getting up onto the top of my wardrobe," Ronin grumbled; he had found him on top of it twice in the last week alone, "Asa is still insisting on hitting the cranberries hard, but I'm not sure it's worth it. The black-caps were good this year, and boggans have been active in the marshes."

"Keep an eye on the marshes, and we can see where we're at once the cranberries are ready to harvest," Tara said, "winter is going to be long this year, I think."

The queen couldn't predict the weather any more than the next person, but her connection to the forest gave her a sense of the ebb and flow of the seasons. She was almost always right about those sorts of things.

"Alright," Ronin nodded, "I'll let Asa know."

"Ronin, he's climbing the vines," Tara grinned.

They had yet to find something the boy couldn't climb, or more accurately, the boy had yet to not climb everything he set his eyes on. He liked the vines that climbed all the way to the top of the chamber. They were the same ones he had tried to use to escape on his first visit to the queen's chamber, and he took great delight in seeing how high he could get before Ronin caught him.

"Chickadee," Ronin took a step back so he could see where the child was.

The boy stopped climbing and gave him a curious look.

"Get down," Ronin said firmly, making a down motion with his hand.

The child still hadn't shown any sign of speaking, but he seemed to be listening and trying to understand when people spoke to him, and he was starting to pick up the signs Ronin and Orla were teaching him. Hungry and honey brittle apparently meant the same thing to him, which was a little concerning, but he certainly knew the sign for down. It was all a matter of whether he felt like doing what Ronin asked.

After a few seconds of hesitation, the boy climbed back down and trotted over to Ronin.

"Ronin," Tara said slowly, "he needs a name."

"He has a name," Ronin said, "we just don't know what it is. Nim is still looking."

Nim had finally given up on the missing children records and started the arduous task of back tracking the child through the scrolls. He expected it to take quite a while to identify him that way.

"Yes, but he needs a name until then," Tara sent the tip of a vine to tickle the boy, making him giggle and dart away from Ronin.

"He already has one," Ronin insisted, "it will only confuse him to give him a different one."

"Ronin, he's starting to answer to chickadee," Tara pointed out.

At the word, the boy looked up from the vine he had been poking at.

"Oh," Ronin blinked.

It wasn't a completely uncommon endearment, and the child acted more like a bird chick than a jinn sometimes, so it had seemed appropriate. Ronin hadn't realized how often he had been using it though.

"So what are you going to name him?" Tara asked, her lips quirking into a teasing smile.

"Me?" Ronin gapped at her, "shouldn't you name him? You're the queen."

"What does that have to do with naming people?" Tara laughed, "you know him best, and he likes you best. Choose a name for him."

"I don't know…" Ronin started, then realized the child had disappeared again, "where is he?"

"That way," Tara pointed, "he's crawling through the asters."

Ronin went to retrieve him before he found his way to the muddy area near the spring that bubbled up into the queen's chamber. He would need a bath anyway, but Ronin wasn't excited by the prospect of scrubbing mud out of the child's hair again.

He managed to catch him by the ankle and pull him out from under the aster leaves before he could get too far. The boy squirmed and pouted, unhappy at being caught, and Ronin scooped him up, carrying him back to where Tara was waiting.

"You know," Ronin told the child, "if I knew you would come back, I could let you wander."

The boy stuck his tongue out at Ronin and tried to wriggle free, but Ronin swung him upside down and carried him the rest of the way hanging by his knees and laughing. When they reached Tara, he swung the child up right again and set him on his feet, catching the back of his jacket to stop him from disappearing again.

"So, I'll talk to Asa," Ronin picked up the conversation.

"We were talking about naming your little chickadee," Tara said with a knowing grin.

"We were talking about finishing the harvest before the first snow," Ronin said firmly, "and he's not mine to name."

The boy tugged on Ronin's armor and held his arms up. Ronin complied without hesitation, lifting him up to hold on his hip.

"Really?" Tara's eyes sparkled with laughter, "he seems to think differently."

Ronin sighed and picked a twig out of the child's hair. The queen was right; he couldn't keep calling the boy chickadee. He needed a real name, and there was no telling how long it would take Nim to find who he was in the scrolls.

"What about Nod?" Ronin used his thumb to rub a smudge off the boy's cheek.

"Our little wanderer," Tara said thoughtfully, "I think it suits him."

"What do you think of that Nod?" Ronin asked, bouncing the child.

Nod grinned back at him, arms wrapped around his neck and legs swinging happily.

"I think he likes it," Tara smiled.

* * *

><p>Ronin was checking over feed stores for the birds when he heard a loud happy woop come from the rookery. He ducked out of the storeroom and spotted a group of young Leafmen crowding around the entrance to the rookery, jumping up and down and cheering.<p>

First snow fall.

The flakes drifted large and lazily past the rookery entrance. First snow fall signaled the shift for Leafmen from their usual schedule to winter duty. It meant more days off, fewer patrols, and no night patrols at all unless something was wrong. Winter was a time to rest.

Ronin gave a contented sigh. It was always nice to have things slow down after the hecticness of the fall harvest, and Nod would be happy to have Ronin home two days a week instead of only one. The boy had slowly been making the transition from being sullen that Ronin had been gone all day to happy he was home.

They would eventually find Nod's family, and when they did, it would be strange to come home to an empty apartment and no happy little face to greet him.

Ronin shook himself and went back to inspecting the store room, chuckling when he heard shrieks and yells fill the rookery as the Leafmen there started throwing snowballs at each other.

* * *

><p>Ronin swung by the market on his way home, managing to snag some of the last fresh fruit of the season. The harvest had been good, and they should get through the winter without problem, but they wouldn't be seeing any fresh fruit for a while.<p>

As he was leaving the market, he passed a stand that sold jewelry and spotted a cup of small silver bells. The stall vender was sitting behind the counter, threading the bells onto a beaded dancer's bracelet. They made a pleasant tinkling sound as she slid them on, and Ronin had a sudden idea.

Nod still refused to wear shoes or even socks, but he carried the booties Nora had given him around with him, and he always wore his jacket with buckles. Sometimes, he jumped up and down just to hear the buckles jingle.

Maybe if his slippers jingled, he would wear those too.

The woman was surprised he just wanted the bells and not any jewelry, but she let him have a half dozen of them and some strong thread, and Ronin tucked them in his pocket and headed for home.

Nod met him at the door, grabbing his hand excitedly and trying to pull him towards the balcony. When Ronin resisted, stopping to take off his sword and boots first, the boy made a sign Ronin didn't recognize and tried tugging harder. Ronin gave Orla a questioning look.

"That's the sign for snow," Orla explained, "we've been watching it all afternoon. He's very excited about it. We made a little snow jinn on the balcony, but we couldn't stay out because someone wouldn't put his shoes on."

Nod wrinkled his nose at the word 'shoes' and tried to pull Ronin along.

"Well, I'm not letting you out without shoes either," Ronin snorted and straightened, lifting his arm and letting the boy dangle from it, "say goodbye to Miss Orla, then show me your snow jinn."

Ronin made the sign for goodbye, and the boy chirped and dropped from Ronin's arm, trotting over to hug Orla. Nod was learning signs quickly, and so far knew nearly a dozen. Actually, 'snow' might have brought them up to a dozen even. They still had trouble understanding him sometimes, because he tended to use the same sign to mean multiple things. He occasionally used the sign for goodbye to mean he wanted to be held. He was constantly improving with them though.

"Goodbye sweet pea," Orla returned the hug, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Ronin gave Orla one of the wild grapes he had picked up at the market before she left, and even before she had closed the door behind her, Nod tugged Ronin over to the balcony door and showed him a little pile of snow that had the vague shape of a person. If Ronin could get the boy into a pair of winter boots, he would take him out to play in the snow on his next day off. His hopes weren't especially high for that though. For now he would just settle for getting him to wear his booties.

"I got you something," Ronin pulled a bell out of his pocket and held it out to the boy, jingling it.

Nod whistled excitedly and took it, shaking it happily.

"They go on your booties," Ronin told him, "where are they?"

The boy gave him a suspicious look.

"Are they still in your nest or did you put them under the bed?" those were Nod's two favorite hiding places for his treasures at the moment.

Ronin checked behind the couch and found one bootie on the tail of the blue caterpillar and the other under a pillow. He plucked them both up and sat on the couch. Nod crawled up next to him and kept trying to snatch away both the bells and the slippers, until Ronin finally scooped him up and dropped him over the back of the couch into his nest. The child giggled and popped back up, watching Ronin work over the back of the couch.

Ronin tied the bells through the button holes on the ankles of the booties, one for each hole. When he was finished, he held them up for Nod to see, shaking them so he could hear them jingle. Nod tried to grab them, but Ronin kept them out of his reach. The boy chirped and giggled, clambering over the back of the couch and tumbling down onto the cushions beside Ronin.

"Let's try these," Ronin snatched the child into his lap and managed to get the booties on, even though Nod tried to wiggle away and ended up with half his body hanging over the edge of the couch.

Nod gave him an upside down pout and tried to squirm free, undaunted by the possibility of landing on his head if Ronin let go of him suddenly, but Ronin caught his ankle and shook his foot, making the bells jingle.

The boy froze, looking up at his feet, then shook his foot again. The bells jingled merrily. He kicked both feet, making them both jingle and a wide grin spread across his face. He sat up and slid off Ronin's lap, taking a few steps, then jumping, then he ran from one end of the room to the other, sliding a bit on the floor.

"Not too bad, huh?" Ronin grinned at him.

The boy raced back to him, jingling all the way, and threw his arms around Ronin's neck, nuzzling against his cheek.

"You're welcome chickadee," Ronin hugged him tight, then let him go, "let me get my armor off, then I'll make dinner. Are you hungry?"

Ronin made the sign for hungry, and the boy chirped and nodded before bunny hopping in the direction of the kitchen, ringing with every hop.

"That's going to get very old, very fast," Ronin muttered, grinning despite himself, "but at least his feet will be warm."

* * *

><p>Ronin was running very late, but at least Orla was on time. He was still tying his shitagi when he opened the door for her.<p>

"He's really angry, sorry," Ronin said.

"Where is he?" Orla looked amused.

"Under my bed," Ronin pulled his throat guard on, "I went through his bag this morning and got rid of the food that wasn't good anymore. He wasn't happy about it."

It had taken much longer than he had expected, although he supposed it shouldn't have surprised him that Nod had fought him for every bit of food he had pulled out of the sack, even the food he had been putting back. Nod shared food most of the time, but the food in the sack was his, and he didn't like it being taken from him, even if Ronin was only taking out food he shouldn't be eating anyway.

"Ah," Orla nodded, "have you ever thought about giving him a cupboard?"

"A cupboard?" Ronin paused in buckling his chest armor.

"One of the bottom ones in the kitchen," Orla clarified, "to keep his food in. It would be easier for us to clean out when we need to, and maybe he would stop carrying around his bag if he knew he had somewhere else to store food he could always reach."

"That's a great idea," Ronin buckled on his sword and grabbed his shoulder guards, "I have to go. I'll give it a try tonight. I'm sorry I'm leaving you with him in such a rotten mood."

"That's alright," Orla laughed, "it's hardly the first time he's spent the whole day under something."

Ronin thanked her and was out the door, buckling his shoulder guards and pulling on his jinbaori as he went. Baring major injury and natural disasters, Ronin had never been late for his morning meetings. Nod was going to break his perfect record one of these days, and his captains were never going to let him live it down.

* * *

><p>Nod was out from under the bed and in his nest by the time Ronin got home, kicking his feet in the air to make the bells on his slippers jingle. Orla was sitting in their newly acquired rocking chair reading to him.<p>

There had been a lot of newly acquired things since Nod had started staying with Ronin.

"I gave him the cupboard next to the pantry," Orla told Ronin as she stood and stretched, "he still has his bag, but he's already put a few sunflower seeds and some crackers into the cupboard."

"You're amazing," Ronin informed her as he took off his sword.

Orla laughed, "it may be a while before he lets go of his bag, but at least it's a start."

Things were always small steps with Nod. There was no point in rushing the child; he wasn't going to do anything before he was ready.

Orla left and Ronin finished taking off his armor, then went to lean over the back of the couch and check on Nod.

"How was your day buddy?" he asked.

Nod looked up at him, then huffed and rolled over, curling protectively around his bag.

Ronin chuckled and reached down to rumple his hair, "how about some dinner?"

Nod pouted and continued to hug his sack to him. Ronin shook his head and went to get dinner started. Before he started pulling out ingredients though, he slipped a small bag of honey brittle into Nod's cupboard.

No reason a little encouragement couldn't speed things along.


	8. Ch 8: Winter Light

"Really? They think it's a yukinba?" Ronin rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"They think it's several yukinba," Finn shook his head, "we have reports of people missing and lights being spotted all over that area of the forest every night for the past week."

"Does that even happen?" Ronin glanced over the report on his desk again. "I thought yukinba were always solitary."

"I spoke with Nim. He said it's rare, but it's been known to happen," Finn folded his arms across his chest, "there are records of groups of yukinba wiping out whole villages."

The yukinba, the snow hags, were malicious spirits that appeared in winter, leading travelers astray with their light so they could devour them. They were rare, but very dangerous.

"And this is from the Amaranth town guard?" Ronin turned to the next page of the report.

"Yeah, and they're pretty sharp," Finn nodded, "they've given us good intelligence reports before."

"We need to get a blue unit out there," Ronin decided, "and if this really is what they think it is, I should go with them. We can't risk something like this getting out of hand."

"Can you do that?" Finn asked in surprise, "you'll have to be gone at least two days, maybe more."

"I don't know," Ronin rubbed his temple, "I've actually dealt with yukinba before, so it would be better if I went and not you, but I have to check with Glory and see if she thinks it will be alright, and I have to see if Orla can stay with him."

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Finn looked apprehensive, "I should be fine to go. We're probably going to want to send Dastgir anyway, and he knows what he's doing."

"I think," Ronin said slowly, "I'm going to have a very angry little chickadee on my hands when I get back. Brief Dastgir on the situation and tell him to have his unit ready to leave by tomorrow morning. I'll go talk to Glory now. I should know within an hour or two which one of us it going."

"On it," Finn saluted and left.

Ronin groaned and dropped his head to rest on his hand. Nod got angry when he was late for dinner; he was going to sulk for days after this.

* * *

><p>Nod chirped and cooed apprehensively, tugging on the soft fur lining of Ronin's cloak. He knew something was different about this morning, but Ronin wasn't sure he understood that Ronin wouldn't be home tonight. Ronin had tried to explain it to him, but Nod had consistently had trouble understanding time, and signs and words for time.<p>

They had tried to find a way to explain time to Nod so they could tell him when Ronin was running late that he would be home in an hour or not for another few hours, but so far they hadn't had much success. Nod always acted as if he expected Ronin not to come home at all if he wasn't there by dinner.

"I'll be back tomorrow night," Ronin hugged him close and kissed his cheek, "I won't be gone long at all."

Nod looked up at him questioningly, then shifted in his arms so he could kiss his cheek just like Ronin had done to him, then gave Ronin a hopeful smile.

Ronin laughed and nuzzled his nose against the boy's, making him giggle, then set him on his feet.

"You'll have fun with Miss Orla," Ronin kissed his forehead.

"We'll be fine," Orla draped an arm around Nod's shoulders, "we'll see you when you get home."

Ronin rumpled Nod's hair one more time and forced himself to leave. These sorts of trips were sometimes annoying, but he had never been so reluctant to go on one before.

Dastgir had his unit in the rookery and ready to go by the time Ronin got there. The blue units were the units that specialized in dealing with magic, particularly malicious magic. Dastgir was one of their most experienced blue unit captains and a talented magic worker. If there did turn out to be a horde of yukinba, his unit would be able to handle it.

"Ready to go general?" Dastgir asked.

"Ready," Ronin mounted his titmouse, "the sooner we get going, the sooner we can get back."

* * *

><p>They reached Amaranth just after noon. They were fortunate that the weather was clear. Winter travel was always difficult, and while the clear skies meant it was very cold, they didn't have to content with winds or snow.<p>

It was unnerving to come into the town and see the streets completely empty. Ronin couldn't blame them though. While there were certainly dangerous things in the forest they dealt with on a regular basis, the jinn rarely had to deal with threats of a magical variety, and very few people actually knew how.

Ellery, captain of the town guard, came out to meet them, bundled in a heavy coat and a rather peculiar two toned orange knit hat.

"Thank you for coming," he pulled his scarf away from his mouth, "we can get the birds into the rookery where it's warmer."

While they settled their birds so they could rest and went over the details of what had been happening, Ronin kept spotting movement out of the corner of his eye. He finally spotted a little girl, peering out at them from behind the perches and birds. Leafmen didn't make it out this far from Moonhaven often, or at least, they didn't come into towns when they were out this far, so it wasn't unusual for them to be stared at when they did.

While Ellery was filling in the details on the two missing persons, a heather jinn woman and a juniper jinn man, the little girl crept up to Dastgir and tugged on his armor.

The way children flocked to Dastgir had always mystified Ronin. He was a huge, dark skinned jinn with white tattoos on his face, and just looking at him scared both boggans and new recruits half to death, but children adored him. Ronin had never seen him in a crowd without at least one child trying to get his attention.

But then what did Ronin know about children anyway? He couldn't for the life of him figure out why Nod was so attached to him. Children generally did not flock to Ronin; they usually went in the opposite direction or tried to hide.

Dastgir crouched down so the little primrose girl could whisper in his ear, nodding encouragingly every time she hesitated. When she was done, he took her by the hand and lead her over to them.

"I think we have at least one problem solved," Dastgir announced, patting the girl's head when she hid her face against his armor, "this is Kerria, and her big sister is one of the missing jinn. It turns out her big sister is dating our other missing jinn, and they had plans to elope to Kettleburrow and get married because their parents though they were too young and were against it. If I have my timeline right, then they actually left before the lights started showing up in the forest, so I don't think we have any missing people to worry about."

"I was supposed to keep it a secret," Kerria's voice came out muffled against Dastgir's armor.

"You were very good to tell us," Dastgir reassured her, "now we know your sister is safe and not in trouble."

"Will you tell mommy for me?" Kerria pleaded, "I don't want her to be mad at me."

"Tell you what, I'll come with you, and we can tell your mom together, how would that be?" Dastgir lifted the child up to hold on his hip.

Kerria nodded vigorously and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"We still need to find out what's going on with those lights," Ronin reminded him.

"Yeah," Dastgir nodded, "we need to get a good look at the area they've been appearing in before it gets dark. Captain Ellery, can your people show us where they are?"

"Of course," Ellery nodded.

"Martin," Dastgir turned to his second-in-command, "get the unit out and surveying the area. I'll catch up as soon as I take Kerria home."

"On it," Martin saluted.

Dastgir left with the girl bundled in his cloak, and Ronin turned to Ellery.

"I'm going to leave the runaways to you," Ronin said dryly.

"Yeah, their families already don't like each other," Ellery rubbed his temples with his fingers, "I'll send some of my people over to supervise them when they receive the news, and get a messenger out to Kettleburrow to make sure they made it there safe. Stupid kids."

After assigning some of his guards to help the Leafmen, Ellery headed out himself to break the news to the other family.

"Captain Ellery," Ronin called as he was about to walk out the door.

Ellery turned back towards him.

"Nice hat," Ronin couldn't resist; he had never seen a hat quite that shade of orange, nor seen a town guard wear a hat with tassels.

"Pretty cunning, huh?" Ellery grinned at him, then pulled his scarf back over his mouth and headed out into the cold.

* * *

><p>Nod sat on his knees on his chair at the table, picking at his food moodily and looking towards the door every few minutes. This wasn't the first time Ronin hadn't made it home for dinner, but Nod was always unhappy when he wasn't there. The way Nod kept looking at the door told Orla he really hadn't understood that Ronin wasn't going to be home tonight.<p>

She had tried to distract him by making him lamb's quarter pasta with mint pesto. It was usually one of his favorites. He liked to suck up the long pasta noodles without using his fingers or a fork, even though that always ended with sauce all over his face and everywhere else. Nod thought that part was almost as funny as the slurping noise he made while eating it.

He wasn't interested tonight though. He pushed his food around his plate for a few more minutes, then threw down his fork and dropped to sit sullenly in his chair, arms folded across his chest. He didn't like his booster seat, but sitting in the chair without it meant his nose just barely cleared the table.

Orla had expected him to be grumpy, but usually he would at least eat dinner if Ronin was late coming home.

"Nod, honey, do you want a jam tart or maybe some honey brittle?" Orla made the sign for honey brittle; it wouldn't hurt him to have sweets before dinner every once in a while, and it was better if he ate something rather than nothing at all.

He lifted his head slightly so he could see her over the table top at the mention of honey brittle, then looked towards the door and slumped down again. Shaking her head, Orla went to get a jam tart and a few pieces of honey brittle for him.

Even if that did manage to cheer him up a bit, she expected tears by bedtime.

* * *

><p>The sun had dropped below the tree line and the temperature had plummeted. Ellery's hat was looking more cunning by the minute, although their winter helmets had a thick lining spun from rabbit fur that did a decent job keeping them warm.<p>

They had split the unit into groups of four and spread out through the area that the town guards had identified as active. Although being in a group didn't guarantee safety, it was much better than facing a yukinba alone. Ronin had the scars to prove that.

He was hoping they would be able to resolve this in one night, but magical creatures were notorious for only showing up when you didn't want them to. If they couldn't resolve it in a night, Ronin was considering returning to Moonhaven anyway and leaving Dastgir in charge of dealing with it. With no people actually missing, the situation was considerably less dire.

A light flickered in-between the dark shadows of the trees, and Ronin tensed, dropping his hand to his sword. A moment later there was another, and then another. The lights were a chilly blue and drifted as if caught in a current of wind despite the still night.

The forest remained completely silent as more and more lights appeared. The hair stood up on the back of Ronin's neck, and the Leafmen with him shifted restlessly. A moment later a bird whistle sounded, signaling the all clear. The whistle repeated several times as the groups nearest the lights signaled there was no danger, followed by the trumpet of a horn, calling them to regroup.

The lights swirled as if caught in a sudden whirl wind at the sound of the horn, but they didn't go out. They continued to drift lightly through the trees.

"I don't think those are yukinba," the Leafwoman beside Ronin said as she stood and stretched.

"If they are, they're awfully docile ones," Ronin frowned, puzzled.

As the unit regrouped, the lights drifted around them, sometimes circling them curiously. They were exactly what they looked like, bright little balls of blue light that drifted through the forest like dandelion fluff.

"What are they?" Ronin asked, watching as one of the Leafmen poked at one. It jumped away, circling his head as if it were scolding him.

Ronin had concluded a long time ago that all the members of the blue units were a little crazy. They went around poking at magic just to see if it would bite.

"They're snow wisps," Dastgir said as he joined them, "this is a huge bloom of them."

"Are they dangerous?" Ronin leaned to the side to avoid one that was drifting too close to his head.

"No," Dastgir laughed and held his hand out, letting one land on his palm, "they're rare though. I've never seen this many together."

It bounced in his palm for a minute, like a child that couldn't sit still, then swept off to join the other wisps.

"They're just little nature sprites," Dastgir explained when he saw Ronin's skeptical look, "seeing this many of them together is good luck. Maybe it means Kerria's sister will make up with her family."

If Ronin could choose what to be lucky in, he would choose to be lucky enough to not come home to a sullen and unhappy little chickadee.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yukinba is an alternate name for the Yuki-Onna. As there are quite a few Japanese design elements in the jinn world, it made sense to me to pull from Japanese mythology for them.

And yes, Ellery's hat was made by his mother.


	9. Ch 9: Sick Leave

Ronin was not greeted by anyone at the door when he got home, sullen or otherwise, although Nod was most definitely crying. He was laying on Orla's lap in the rocking chair, sobbing messily. If how congested he sounded was any indication, he had been crying for quite a while.

When he realized it was Ronin at the door, he sat up and held his arms out to be picked up, crying harder.

Ronin didn't bother with putting his sword away or taking off his cloak. He rushed to scoop the boy up, holding him against his chest.

"It's alright chickadee," Ronin shushed him, rubbing his back, "I'm home now, everything's alright."

The boy latched onto him and pressed his face against his shoulder, continuing to cry wearily. Orla stood and offered him the blanket Nod had been wrapped in. For the first time since she had started watching Nod, Orla looked worried, and Ronin found that more than a little unnerving.

"He didn't do well?" Ronin asked, wrapped the blanket around the child.

Orla shook her head, "he did alright until dinner last night, then he started getting upset. He cried all last night and most of today, although he fell asleep for a little bit this afternoon. I haven't been able to get him to eat or drink anything since last night though."

Ronin cradled the child's head against his shoulder and pressed a kiss to his hair. He had expected him to be upset, but he hadn't expected him to be this upset.

"Hopefully, he'll settle down now that I'm home," Ronin said, "thank you for staying with him."

Ronin was sure Orla wanted to get home and get some rest. If Nod hadn't slept, then she probably hadn't either.

"You're welcome," Orla started gathering her things, "I'll see you in a few days."

"I might take an extra day off," Ronin rocked with the crying child, "I'll let you know."

Orla nodded, "I would keep an eye on him. He doesn't seem to be feeling very well, although it could just be that he's tired."

"I'll watch him," Ronin said; it was doubtful Nod would let him out of his sight for the next few days.

Orla left and Ronin managed to get his sword and cloak off one handed, then went to sit with Nod in the rocking chair. He cradled the boy in his lap and offered him the sippy cup that had been sitting on the floor beside the chair.

Nod gave a tired whine and pushed the cup away with both hands.

"Come on chickadee," Ronin coaxed, offering him the cup again, "you need to drink something."

The boy sniffled and wiped his nose on the blanket, then curled up against Ronin with his face pressed against his arm.

"Alright," Ronin set the cup down and started rocking, "you rest for a while, then we'll have juice and maybe dinner, how does that sound?"

Nod whimpered and continued to cry, fingers digging into the seams of Ronin's armor to hold onto him. All Ronin could do for now was hold him and hope he calmed down enough to eat and sleep soon.

* * *

><p>"Come on buddy, you need to eat," Ronin offered Nod a piece of toast with blackberry jam.<p>

The child pushed it away with a whine and pulled his knees up, curling up on Ronin's lap and hiding his face against Ronin's chest. He had cried for almost an hour after Ronin had gotten home, although he had finally taken his sippy cup. He had drunk half-heartedly from it for a while, then pushed that away too.

Ronin sighed and set the toast back on the coffee table.

"Nod, buddy, I know you're upset I was gone, but I'm home now," he wrapped his arms around the boy and started to rock in the chair again, "you need to drink your juice and eat something. You'll feel better if you do."

Ronin made the sign for dinner, hoping Nod would understand it was time to eat, but the boy ignored him, tucking himself more tightly against Ronin. As Ronin rocked them, the boy gradually relaxed, slumping against Ronin and starting to suck his thumb. Ronin picked up the sippy cup again and tried to get him to take it, but he turned his head away. When Ronin didn't pull it away, Nod gave an angry growl and pushed at the hand holding it.

"Chickadee," Ronin tried to keep the frustration out of his voice as he shifted the boy to face him, "you're being silly. You have to be hungry, and not eating because you're angry isn't going to make things any better."

Ronin made the sign for hungry and Nod shook his head stubbornly and pressed his face against Ronin's shoulder, sniffling and grabbing onto his armor, then sticking his thumb in his mouth. He felt warm to Ronin. He had felt warm when Ronin got home, but he had thought it was just because he had been crying for so long. He had calmed down considerably now, but he still felt warm to the touch.

"How about a bath?" Ronin suggested, standing with the boy in his arms.

Nod started crying again when Ronin set him down in the bathroom to get him undressed.

"Chickadee, it's okay," Ronin pulled his shirt over his head, then kissed his forehead, "I'm not going anywhere."

Nod wrapped his arms around Ronin's neck and leaned into him, not at all reassured. Ronin hugged him, then finished undressing him and sat him in the tub. The boy looked up at him mournfully the whole time Ronin was washing him, as if he expected Ronin to run off and leave him there sitting in the bathtub alone.

It was the least wet Ronin had ever gotten bathing Nod, and he found the boy's lack of enthusiasm very worrisome.

Ronin got him into clean pajamas and sat on the bed holding him for a while. Every time the boy started to drop off, he would jerk awake and latch onto Ronin, as if he thought he was going to suddenly disappear. Ronin rocked him slowly, holding his breath when the child finally closed his eyes and didn't open them. He waited almost fifteen minutes before laying Nod down on the bed so he could finally get his armor off, but as soon has Nod was down, his eyes opened and he started to cry, holding his arms out to be held.

But he didn't even try to sit up.

Ronin frowned and leaned over him, stroking his hair back from his flush face. He was still too warm, and even though Ronin knew he was tired, he seemed too lethargic to him for this to be just from not sleeping.

"We need to go see Glory kiddo," Ronin kissed his forehead and lifted him back up, bundling him in a blanket.

Nod wrapped his arms around Ronin's neck and rested his head on his shoulder wearily.

* * *

><p>"Well, he's sick," Glory wiped the bite on her hand with thyme oil; Nod had not liked being prodded at.<p>

"You said he would be fine," Ronin glared at her, rubbing the sniffling boy's back.

"I said I thought he would be fine," Glory made quick work of bandaging the bite, "and now we know he's not ready for you to be gone overnight."

"You're a healer, why didn't you know?" Ronin cradled Nod's head against his shoulder when he felt him start to droop with sleep.

"Ronin, even normal children don't come with instruction manuals," Glory looked far too amused, "never mind small malnourished children who think they're foxes."

Ronin glared at her and leaned back against the bed, shifting Nod to hold more comfortably. Nod yawned and tucked his head under Ronin's chin, sticking his thumb in his mouth.

"He'll be fine," Glory reassured him with a smirk she couldn't quite hide, "his fever isn't very high. I'll get him some wintergreen and as long as his fever doesn't go up in the next hour, you can take him home."

"But he's sick, he should stay in the healers ward," Ronin protested.

"Because I need bite marks on all of my healers," Glory snorted.

"Glory," Ronin growled.

"He needs to rest Ronin," Glory explained as if Ronin were particularly stupid, "he wakes up every time he hears a voice he doesn't know. He's never going to sleep here."

Glory went to get the medicine, and Ronin moved to sit in the chair beside the bed, cradling Nod in his lap. The boy rested tiredly against him, dozing off for a few minutes at a time before jumping awake at the unfamiliar sounds of the healers ward. Glory was right; Nod would do better at home, but why couldn't she have been right about how he would do with Ronin gone?

Glory returned with a mug of tea and held it out to Ronin.

"See if you can get him to drink all of it," she said, "it should help with the fever."

Ronin thought she was being a bit optimistic thinking he could get Nod to drink an entire mug of tea when he hadn't been able to get him to drink the juice he actually liked. He tried though. Nod took a sip, then pushed it away, and Ronin had to pull the mug out of his reach to stop it from spilling. The flavor probably wasn't the problem. Wintergreen tasted like mint, and Nod liked mint jelly. The boy just didn't seem to want anything.

"Do you have any sippy cups you can put this in so he doesn't spill it everywhere?" Ronin held the mug out to Glory, "and can you sweeten it?"

"I can put a little honey in it," Glory took the mug back, "and we should have a sippy cup somewhere."

Even with the honey, it took Ronin half an hour to get Nod to drink all the tea. The strange sounds and strange people were upsetting him, and he alternated between crying and trying to hide against Ronin, and dozing off. His fever didn't go up though.

"Take him home," Glory held a bag out to Ronin, "here's the wintergreen. He can have a cup every four hours, but don't bother waking him up for it if he's sleeping. Try and get him to eat and make sure he's drinking lots of fluids."

"What if he gets worse?" Ronin unconsciously drew Nod in closer.

"Then bring him back," Glory rolled her eyes, "we're at the base of the tree Ronin, not the other side of the forest."

Ronin glared at her, but accepted the bag.

"Bring him back tomorrow afternoon, and we'll check him over again," Glory's lips quirked up.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Ronin stood with the boy in his arms, and Nod whined and hid his face against his shoulder.

"Don't worry, we're going home buddy," Ronin reassured him.

* * *

><p>The dim pre-dawn light was just showing through the curtains when Ronin woke to someone poking at him. He blinked blearily at the boy on his knees beside him.<p>

"What is it buddy?" Ronin yawned.

It had taken him over an hour to get Nod to sleep after they had gotten home from the healers. The boy was obviously not feeling well, and he couldn't seem to decide what he wanted. He had wanted to be held, then had wanted to be put down, then started crying as soon as Ronin had let him go. He wanted juice, then got upset after a few sips and pushed it away.

Ronin had eventually given up trying to figure out what he wanted and just laid down with him. He had finally fallen asleep in the hollow of Ronin's arm, thumb in his mouth and other hand fisted in Ronin's shirt.

The boy was awake again now, although looking tired and grumpy. He pushed his sippy cup at Ronin and whined. Ronin sat up with another yawn and took it from him. He had left it on the nightstand filled with wintergreen tea, but it was empty now.

Nod pushed at him and whined again, clearly feeling he wasn't moving fast enough.

"Alright buddy," Ronin stood and stretched, turning towards the door, "I'll get you more juice."

Nod stumbled to his feet on the bed and flung himself at Ronin with a panicked cry. Ronin almost dropped the sippy cup catching him. The boy locked his arms and legs around Ronin and pressed his face into his shoulder, whimpering.

"Well, at least you have more energy," Ronin shifted him into a better position, "I guess we'll go get your juice together."

Ronin sat Nod on the counter and pulled the jug of blackberry juice out of the pantry, filling up the sippy cup and handing it to him. The boy gulped it down, watching Ronin over the lid as he drank.

"I'm glad you're feeling better chickadee," Ronin stroked back his hair.

He was still warm, but not as warm as he had been. Ronin pulled out a jar of pickled dandelion stems and offered one to Nod. The boy continued to stare at him over the lid of his cup and made no move to take it.

"Still not hungry, huh?" Ronin ate the pickle himself.

Nod finished his juice, then pushed the cup back to Ronin, making the sign for thirsty. While Ronin was refilling it, the boy crawled down the counter and stood up on it so he could reach the cupboard. Ronin snorted softly. There had been honey brittle in that cupboard before he had left, and there might still be some there since Nod hadn't eaten much while Ronin was gone.

Nod pulled out the bag of honey brittle and a sunflower seed and sat down on the counter again, helping himself to a piece of candy first, then biting into the seed. Ronin came to lean on the counter beside him, setting his sippy cup down next to him. At least he was eating.

Nod finished half the sunflower seed, had another piece of honey brittle and a few sips of juice, then held his sticky hands out to be picked up with a wide yawn.

Ronin wiped his hands off with a dish towel before picking him up, remembering to grab the sippy cup on the way.

Nod settled down much more quickly this time, cuddling against Ronin when he laid down beside him. He wiggled for a bit, unable to get comfortably, then finally found the exact position he wanted and fell asleep. Ronin laughed softly and kissed his head before joining him in sleep.

He slept much better knowing his little chickadee was on the mend.


	10. Ch 10: Snow Days

"Well, at least he's feeling better," Orla was trying very hard not to look amused and not quite managing.

Ronin was definitely not amused. Nod was standing with a vice-like grip on Ronin's leg, screaming and crying. Ronin had taken an extra day off to stay home with the boy, but Nod's fever had broken the day before yesterday, and Ronin needed to get back to work. He was only planning on working a half day, but if he really did want to be home by lunch, he needed to get going.

"Nod stop," Ronin pried the child's arms free and dropped down to his knee so he was at eye level, hands on the boy's shoulders, "I'll be home for lunch."

Nod paused in his screams and chirped at Ronin angrily.

"Lunch," Ronin repeated, making the sign for it.

Nod pouted sullenly at him and shook his head.

"Yep, that is the way it is kiddo," Ronin kissed the boy's forehead and stood up, "I'll be home soon."

Nod sniffled and started to cry again, but at least he wasn't screaming.

"If he doesn't calm down in the next hour or so, just send me a message," Ronin told Orla.

"I will," Orla reassured him, still looking much more amused than Ronin felt.

Ronin had a sneaking suspicion that she actually found him more amusing than Nod.

* * *

><p>"Ronin, you being gone for two days made him sick," Tara looked at him as if he were crazy, "what makes you think sending him to live with someone else wouldn't be worse."<p>

"But that's the problem," Ronin said in exasperation, "I was gone two days and he got sick. He needs to be with an actually family where that doesn't happen."

At Nod's last check-up, Glory had informed Ronin she didn't want him placed with another family until his family had been found or a permanent placement was made by the child advocate committee. Ronin strongly disagreed with her. If he hadn't had Nod with him, they would have had an all out yelling match over it. As it was, Ronin had had to reign in his temper, but he thought this was the worse decision that they could make for Nod.

"When we find his family, then he will be," Tara reasoned, "until then, Glory is right; it's better for him to be with you where he feels safe and is happy."

"Happy?" Ronin snorted, "he screamed for twenty-five minutes this morning before I left. As soon as he saw me start to put my armor on he started screaming."

"Oh," Tara covered her mouth to hide her smile, "well, he did just have a rough week. It's normal for him to want you to stay home with him, and until he starts talking, he doesn't have too many ways to tell you that."

"That's another thing," Ronin countered, "if he had someone who was home and talking to him all day, maybe he would be talking by now,"

"Ronin," Tara's tone indicated she thought he was just being silly now, "Orla talks to him."

"I know," Ronin deflated slightly, "but he would just be so much better off with someone else. Someone who could give him their undivided attention and actually knew what they were doing. He deserves that."

"Nim is making progress tracking him," Tara tried to reassure him, "we should be able to locate his family soon."

"He's already traced him back eight months, and he still hasn't found them," Ronin couldn't believe the boy had been alone that long, "and what if his family is dead?"

"Then we'll have to start working with the child advocates to find him a new family," Tara said, "but until then, he needs to stay with you. That's where he does best."

Ronin rubbed the bridge of his nose. He really did not agree, but he seemed to be the only one who thought this arrangement wasn't for the best. Nod certainly had clear opinions on what he wanted, but Nod was a child; he didn't know what was best for himself. If Ronin had left it up to Nod, they would have been living on a diet of sweets and blackberry juice, and Ronin never would have left Nod's sight.

He wasn't going to win this argument though, not right now.

"As you wish your majesty," Ronin bowed slightly, and started for the exit, "I have to go; I need to be home by lunch."

"Ronin," Tara called, waiting for him to stop and look back at her, "you're doing a good job."

Ronin wished that was enough to reassure him, but it wasn't.

* * *

><p>Ronin woke to Nod shaking him. It was after dawn, and for a moment Ronin thought he had overslept, then remembered he had the day off.<p>

"What's wrong buddy?" Ronin yawned; it was unusual for Nod to wake up before him.

Nod chirped excitedly and pointed to the window, making the sign for 'outside'. The boy's vocabulary with signs continued to expand, but he had trouble stringing them into sentences, so sometimes it was still hard to understand what he wanted. 'Outside' usually meant he wanted Ronin to take him out to play.

Glory had given the boy a clean bill of health last week, but Ronin was still feeling uneasy about it, and he hadn't been taking him out anywhere, not even to the evening debriefings with the queen.

"It's early chickadee," Ronin yawned again and snatched the boy to himself, cuddling him close while he squirmed and giggled.

Ronin was more relieved than he would ever be able to say that Nod was feeling better. He had hated that the child felt so miserable, and there had been nothing he could do to fix it.

"We haven't even had breakfast yet," Ronin blew a sloppy raspberry against Nod's cheek, making him shriek with laughter.

Nod made the sign for honey brittle, although he could have meant hungry. He was still using the two signs fairly interchangeably.

"How about hungry?" Ronin made the right sign.

Nod giggled and responded with honey brittle again. Apparently, that was what he meant.

"Not for breakfast," Ronin tickled him until he laughed so hard he couldn't breathe.

Ronin let the boy squirm away and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. Nod bounced to his feet with a happy whistle and jumped off the bed, grabbing Ronin's arm and tugging him towards the window. Ronin looked out to see snowing coming down lightly and the ground covered with a crisp, fresh layer.

Nod whistled and chirped, signing 'outside' again and pointing eagerly out the window. Ronin had discovered not long after the first snowfall that the boy liked to play in the snow an awful lot, enough to tolerate snow boots and layers of clothing that he would refuse under any other circumstance.

"Breakfast first," Ronin patted his head, "then we'll play. How about pancakes?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically and signed 'honey brittle' again. Ronin was fairly sure he meant he wanted syrup with his pancakes and not that he actually wanted honey brittle pancakes, although if Ronin could have figured out how to make such a thing, he didn't doubt that Nod would demand them every morning. It was probably better that he hadn't figured it out.

"We have maple syrup," Ronin offered the boy his hand, "I think."

Nod took his hand eagerly, pulling him towards the kitchen.

Nod 'helped' with the pancakes, which mostly meant he sat on the counter and got lamb's quarter flour and cattail pollen everywhere and licked the spoon. He did sort of help stir, and Ronin suspected he was so happy he helped that he wouldn't even notice that the pancakes were lumpier than usual.

Nod finished his fifth pancake, and how he managed to eat so much and be so small, Ronin still hadn't figure out, then jumped off his chair and raced for his coat hanging near the door.

"Slow down there buddy," Ronin caught him before his could get his sticky fingers all over his coat, "let's get washed up first, then we'll get our coats on."

Nod actually ended up with three coats. Ronin made him put a sweater on under his owl-buckle jacket and then pulled his heavy coat over top of it, and put on an extra pair of socks even though his snow boots were lined with rabbit fur. Ronin was still feeling a little nervous about taking him out into the cold, even if he did seem completely recovered.

Nod bounced impatiently while Ronin tied on his hat and wrapped his scarf around him so it covered his mouth and nose. He tried to shake the mittens off as soon as Ronin put them on him. He tolerated mittens about as well as he tolerated boots, meaning he only wore them when absolutely necessary. He and Ronin had differing opinions on just what constituted absolutely necessary situations for them.

"Leave those on," Ronin patted his head and pulled his own coat and mittens on.

Nod may have been pouting at him, but with his scarf covering his mouth it was hard to say. Ronin pulled on his hat and grabbed the boy's hand before opening the door. Nod was more than fast enough to get all the way down the hall before Ronin could catch him.

He didn't let him go until they were outside and tromping through the fresh snow. Nod bolted away from him, the bells Ronin had tied to his boots ringing as he jumped into snow drifts, then started rolling snow balls across the ground to make a snow jinn.

Ronin watched him play for a few minutes, feeling utterly content at how happy the boy was. He still thought Tara and Glory were wrong. Nod deserved better than living with someone who wasn't home most of the time and couldn't give him the attention he needed, but at least Ronin could make him happy when he was there, and that counted for something.

Nod whistled and waved to Ronin, his snow ball having gotten too large for him to push by himself. Ronin laughed and strode over to help him. It wasn't such a bad thing taking time to play in the snow, especially with his little chickadee.

* * *

><p>Orla leaned out of the kitchen door, dish towel in hand, making sure Nod was still where she had left him. Not that she expected him to move. For such a little boy, he could be very stubborn. Ronin had sent her a message along with an apology a few hours ago, saying that he had been called away and would be home quite late.<p>

Nod had always liked Ronin to be home at the same time every day, but since Ronin's overnight trip, he had become particularly petulant when he wasn't. Orla had tried to explain to him that Ronin would be home late, and while Nod seemed to have finally grasped 'late,' he didn't necessarily make a distinction between a few minutes late, a few hours late, and not home until the next day. They all made him cranky. He had been restless through dinner, but he had eaten. After dinner though, he had planted himself on the living room floor staring at the front door and hadn't moved.

He was still there, chin resting on his hand, staring moodily at the door.

Orla finished with the dinner dishes and went to retrieve a small wooden duck from her bag, hoping the bath toy would entice the boy to come take a bath without too much fuss.

"Nod, do you want to come play with the duck?" she sat on her knees beside the child, offering the toy to him, "we can play with him in the water, just like a real duck."

And probably get as wet as a duck in the process, but at least Nod would be clean and ready for bed when Ronin got home.

"Ronin."

Orla dropped the duck in surprise.

"Nod, sweetie, did you just…?" she stared at the boy.

"Ronin," he repeated insistently, pointing to the door.

Orla's hand went to her mouth and a laugh escaped her. They had all been starting to think that Nod wasn't going to be able to learn to talk. He was picking up signs quickly enough, but he had never even tried to say words before.

"That's right," Orla beamed at him, "Ronin will be home in a few hours."

"Ronin," the boy frowned up at her.

"Yes, Ronin," she laughed again.

Nod looked at her in confusion for a moment, then smiled back, "Ronin."

"That's right!" she scooped the boy up, cuddling him in her lap and making him giggle, "Ronin will be home. Can you say your name? Can you say Nod?"

"Ronin," the boy giggled, apparently liking the way she had responded.

"Ronin," Orla nodded, pointing to the door, then she tapped the child on the nose, "Nod."

"Ronin," Nod kicked his feet happily.

"Ronin it is," Orla shook her head, laughing softly, "now, how about we go play with the duck in the bath?"

She picked up the toy, offering it to the boy, "duck."

Nod looked very hard at the toy, as if he were puzzling through the word, then he pointed to the door again, "Ronin."

"Duck," Orla repeated, toy still held out to him.

Nod took the toy, hugging it to himself, "Ronin."

Orla giggled. The general was certainly going to be surprised when he got home.

"How about bath time?" Orla stood, picking the boy up.

"Ronin!" Nod informed her happily.

Orla smiled and kissed his cheek.

Bath time was its usual wet affair. Nod alternated between quacking like a duck and repeating Ronin's name in a sing-song voice. He obviously knew what the word meant, but he also seemed to just like saying it.

After his bath, he sat himself back on the floor facing the front door, singing Ronin's name to himself as he played with the wooden duck. Orla joined him after drying herself and the bathroom off, bringing a picture book with her. She read the book slowly, taking the time to point to every animal pictured and saying the name of it clearly. She could tell Nod was listening closely, but if it wasn't a bird he could imitate, he would repeat Ronin's name instead.

It was still one more word than he had been saying yesterday, and Orla was ecstatic.

* * *

><p>Ronin slipped open the front door quietly in the very slim hope that Nod was in bed. It was very, very late, but getting Nod to go to bed without Ronin home was almost impossible. There was a slight chance he was asleep though. Ronin spotted him right away. He was curled on the living room floor with a pillow and blanket, thumb in his mouth. He might be asleep. Maybe. If Ronin was very lucky.<p>

Ronin unlocked the weapons cabinet and started to take off his sword. After Ronin had resigned himself to Nod staying with him until his family was found, he had asked some of his captains who had small children how they made sure sharp weapons stayed away from little fingers. They had all said they had locked weapons cabinets, so Ronin had had one installed. So far Nod hadn't found the key or really shown much interest in trying to open it.

"Ronin."

Ronin dropped his sword at the little voice.

Nod had appeared on stealthily at Ronin's feet and was looking up at him expectantly.

"Did you just…?" Ronin stared at him.

"Ronin," Nod repeated, holding his arms up to be held.

"You talked!" Ronin dropped down to one knee, putting himself on eye level with the child.

Nod repeated his name with a yawn and wrapped his arms around Ronin's neck, leaning on him sleepily.

"You said my name!" Ronin said excitedly, wrapping his arms around the boy, "Orla did you hear this?"

"All night," Orla smiled, reaching down to pick up the blanket Nod had left on the floor, "I haven't been able to get him to say anything else yet though."

"But he said my name!" Ronin cuddled the boy close.

Nod said his name again and snuggled against him, wrapping his legs around the general's waist as he stood.

"And he certainly knows what it means," Orla nodded, setting the blanket over the back of a chair.

"Can you say Nod?" Ronin coaxed.

"Ronin," Nod yawned and rested his head on Ronin's shoulder.

"What about chickadee?" Ronin asked.

The boy chirped like a chickadee.

Ronin and Orla both laughed, startling Nod, who was drifting towards sleep again.

"Well, he knows what the word means anyway," Ronin shook his head in amusement.

"Ronin," the child dragged the name out, giving him a reproachful look, then laid his head back down on his shoulder.

"I know, it's bedtime. I'm sorry," Ronin grinned at him, then turned to Orla, "thank you for staying late, and for everything."

"It's my pleasure, general," Orla smiled.

Orla left and Ronin finished taking off his armor and putting away his weapons with Nod leaning sleepily against his leg, singing Ronin's name softly to himself.

"We're going to have to teach you some more words kiddo," Ronin picked him up after locking the cabinet, kissing his cheek and carrying him to bed.

"Ronin," Nod answered, thumb finding its way into his mouth and putting a stop to his stream of repetition.

"How about honey brittle?" Ronin offered as he laid the boy down on his bed.

Nod opened his eyes, blinking up at him sleepily. He pulled his thumb out of his mouth, "Ronin."

"What about titmouse?" Ronin tried, bringing up the blankets to cover him.

"Ronin," Nod tugged on Ronin's wrist.

"Yes, I'll come to bed in just a minute," Ronin reassured him, "I just need a quick shower. How about hummingbird?"

Nod seemed to consider this, then he yawned widely and said Ronin's name again before putting his thumb back in his mouth.

"We'll work on it," Ronin laughed softly and stroked back the child's hair so he could press a kiss to his forehead, "sweet dreams chickadee."

"Chickadee," Nod mumbled around his thumb as he dropped off to sleep.

Ronin grinned. If he was lucky, he would have a little talker on his hands soon, and he couldn't wait.

* * *

><p>It had snowed hard for nearly four days, and the Leafmen had all but shut down their operations. Ronin had always hated it when it happened, but he found himself feeling more congenial to it now, as it meant he got to spend those four days home with Nod.<p>

He had forgotten to go shopping though. Usually, he stopped by the market on his way home, but since he hadn't been going in, he hadn't remembered. He was hoping he could get through one more day without going, but it wasn't looking promising.

There was a half empty jar of jam and an almost empty canister of acorn meal in the first cupboard he opened. The next one had an empty bag that had had dried fruit in it two days ago. He checked Nod's cupboard and found a bag of honey brittle he was sure he had hidden on the top shelf yesterday, along with two sunflower seeds and a stale biscuit. The biscuit hadn't molded yet so he left it, but he pulled the honey brittle out.

While Nod would probably have been content with honey brittle and jam for lunch, Ronin was of the mindset that they should have something more substantial. Plus, Orla tended to appreciate it when there was food in his cupboards to feed Nod. She was there to take care of Nod, not to do Ronin's shopping for him.

He hadn't taken Nod with him to the market yet, but he would probably do alright. As of late, the boy had been more inclined to cling to Ronin's leg and growl at people when he was nervous, rather than trying to run and hide. As odd as it seemed, it was actually an improvement.

"Nod, do you want to go to the market?" Ronin called.

"Market?" Nod appeared in the kitchen doorway, looking at Ronin curiously.

"It's where we get food," Ronin explained.

Nod was learning words at a remarkable pace. He only seemed to need to hear them once to know them, and his comprehension of what was being said to him had improved significantly. It made things much easier, although the boy still struggled to make himself understood most of the time.

"Honey brittle!" Nod said brightly and held his hand out expectantly.

"If that's the only thing you think of when I say food, I'm doing something wrong," Ronin shook his head, but pulled a piece of brittle out of the bag and gave it to the boy.

He would have to find a better place to hide it. Nod had found all his hiding places so far.

"Let's go get your shoes on," Ronin said.

"No," Nod replied, happily crunching on his brittle.

Sometimes, the boy had no trouble making himself understood at all.

* * *

><p>The market was indoors, but the next tree over, so Ronin and Nod still had to make it through the snow to get there. At least the snow had finally let up, and they were light enough to walk across the top of it.<p>

Ronin helped Nod pull off his mittens and unwind his scarf once they got inside again. He was not at all surprised that Nod wanted to be carried as soon as he realized there were lots of people around. Large crowds and noisy places still made the child nervous. At least his head was up, and he was looking around, instead of trying to hide against Ronin's shoulder.

It worked alright for the first few stands, but eventually Ronin had to put him down so he could get things. Nod latched onto his leg and hid his face against Ronin's hip, insisting on being picked up between every stand. If nothing else, the boy was going to keep Ronin in shape.

Ronin was picking out pickles when Nod suddenly let go of his leg and grabbed his hand, tugging excitedly.

"Ronin, chickadee! Chickadee!" Nod bounced and pulled on his arm.

"What?" Ronin looked down at him, doubting that there was actually a bird in the market.

"Chickadee!" Nod pointed.

Ronin turned and realized Nod had spotted a stuffed toy bird sitting on the counter of a clothing stand. It was made from yarn and had the black and white markings of a chickadee.

"Yep," Ronin smiled down at him, "that's a chickadee."

"This way!" Nod sunk his weight back into his heels, trying to drag Ronin in the direction of the stand.

"Let me finish here, and we'll go look," Ronin squeezed his hand and kept a good grip on him while he finished with the pickles.

Nod bounced beside him, relatively patient, and Ronin was glad the boy hadn't worked up the nerve yet to leave his side in a crowd. Once he did, there was no telling how Ronin would keep track of him.

Once Ronin had finished, he let Nod lead him over to the stand. The laurel jinn at the counter smiled at them, and it was hard to say if she recognized Ronin or not. Everyone knew him when he was in uniform, but he sometimes got lucky when he was out of uniform and was able to slip by unnoticed.

"I have sweaters in his size," the woman said.

"Chickadee!" Nod pointed excitedly to the stuffed toy.

"What about the bird?" Ronin asked the woman.

Nod had the toys Nora had sent over, and a few Orla had given him, but Ronin hadn't gotten him any of his own yet. The boy seemed to consider everything in the apartment a toy, so Ronin hadn't seen the need. It was obvious that he was quite enamored with the bird though.

"Of course," the woman handed it down to Nod, who released Ronin's hand to hug it tight.

"I think we'll take it," Ronin laughed, rumpling the boy's hair.

Nod skipped happily through the rest of the market, the stuffed bird held tight in one arm and a firm grip on Ronin's hand with the other.

"So what are you naming him?" Ronin asked as he paused at the market entrance to wrap Nod's scarf back around him.

"Cheep-Cheep," Nod said cheerfully.

"That's the sound it makes," Ronin said in amusement, pulling Nod's mittens on.

Nod whistled like a chickadee.

"I stand corrected," Ronin snorted, "that's the sound it makes."

Nod giggled and cuddled the bird close, "Cheep-Cheep."

"Cheep-Cheep it is," Ronin agreed with a laugh.

"Cheep-Cheep, chickadee," Nod said in a sing-song voice, reaching up to take Ronin's hand, "Nod and Ronin."

"Yep," Ronin squeezed his hand, letting him swing their arms as they walked.

"Cheep-Cheep loves Nod," Nod continued his song, "and Nod loves Ronin."

Ronin froze. Nod looked up at him, smiling brightly, and for a moment all Ronin could do was stare. He hadn't expected that at all. He knew Nod was attached to him, but he hadn't really expected…

Ronin dropped the bag he was carrying and scooped Nod up, hugging him tightly, "I love you too chickadee."

Nod chirped happily and snuggled into him. It wasn't perfect, but for now, it felt that way.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** This is the end of the first story. There should be more stories to come though. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read!

It you want to see more of little Nod or just say hello, he has his own tumblr at little-nod dot tumblr dot com.


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